KANSAS CITY —Liberty Hospital, 2525 Glenn Hendren Drive, Liberty, Mo.,continues to investigate the disruption to their computer systems that began December 19.
On Friday night, the hospital reported the computer systems disruption has since been determined to be a cybersecurity incident, according to a statement on the hospital web site.
"We are in the process of confirming the nature and extent of the event. It is too soon to know how long confirmation will take or to provide a definitive recovery timeline."
"Liberty Hospital became aware of a disruption to our computer systems on December 19, 2023. The hospital proactively took its entire computer network offline, and the information technology (IT) team took immediate action to begin understanding the event while ensuring patients continued to receive safe care."
"Third-party cybersecurity specialists were quickly called in, and the hospital implemented additional safety protocols. In collaboration with numerous EMS teams and hospitals from across the Kansas City area, Liberty Hospital swiftly transferred patients who required higher levels of care than systems were equipped to support at that time. Clinical staff moved to downtime processes and innovative workarounds to safely care for patients who remained."
"During the next several days, the hospital's IT team and other specialists worked diligently to revive the affected systems safely and methodically. The hospital continued to perform low-risk procedures in the main operating rooms, outpatient surgery department and Birthing Center and accepted walk-in patients at the emergency department. Just in time for the busy holiday weekend, the hospital's emergency department opened to ambulances."
"Across the metro area, hospitals are at- or over-capacity, and we are doing our part to provide healthcare for sick patients as we are safely able to do so."
As of Dec. 28, many clinical and surgical services have resumed. If you have questions about an upcoming appointment, please call your clinic or the hospital in advance of your arrival.
The emergency department is caring for an increasing number of patients each day. Due to downtime patient safety procedures, typical ER wait times may be longer than usual. We encourage patients who may not require emergency care to seek care first from their primary care provider or Liberty Hospital Urgent Care Shoal Creek.
At Liberty Hospital Primary Care and Specialty Care clinics, prescription refills for outpatients may not occur electronically at this time. If you need a prescription refill, call your provider's office to ensure it will be submitted to your pharmacy.
"Patients with concerns about their billing are encouraged to call 816.792.7110. Our customer service team will look at their concerns individually and address them accordingly."
"Patients scheduled for elective outpatient imaging – such as routine mammograms – should contact patient scheduling to avoid wait times. Beginning on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., outpatient scheduling may be reached at 816.792.7016. We regret any inconvenience this may cause."
Patient portals may not yet be accessible. In the meantime, patients may pay bills by phone Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Liberty Hospital: 816.792.7110
- Primary and Specialty Care Clinics: 816.792.7110
- Liberty Hospital Outpatient Surgery Department: 816.792.7110
- Urgent Care: 816.792.7110
- Emergency Room Physicians: 816.656.8648
-----