LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The cyber event at Norton Healthcare is having ripple effects on people in Kentuckiana and some have reached out to WHAS11 to share its impact.
Anita Reece said she knew something was wrong with her husband, Herbert.
“His demeanor changed drastically. I think he was really scared, and he just wasn't going to tell me,” Reece said.
She quickly learned he was having trouble filling his four prescriptions for his heart and lung conditions.
The problem? She believes there was some miscommunication between his pharmacy and his doctor's office.
Reece said she went back and forth with Norton Hospital in Shepherdsville and Meijer's Pharmacy in Jeffersonville, Indiana for nine days but barely got answers.
Reece said Meijer's told her that Norton couldn't call the prescriptions in.
“They had to send them in, but never explained how they're sent in, to us,” Reece explained. And when she called Norton, Reece said the hospital “advised that they did send them in, or call them in.”
Reece said she never deciphered exactly how the doctor's office was giving the prescriptions, or how the pharmacy wanted to receive them, but she says she knew they felt stuck in limbo.
But Wednesday, she said their pleas were answered when they switched pharmacies and someone with Norton promised to handle the situation.
On that same phone call with Norton, Reece said she learned about the cyber event for the first time.
“The doctor's office admitted that there's been a problem with the Norton's cyber thing,” she said.
Norton says the cyber event happened on May 9 - days after Reece and her husband says their problems began on May 5, but days before a solution was found on May 18.
"We understand the community has many questions. We know our patients have questions,” Renee Murphy, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for Norton, said at a press conference Tuesday. “We do too, and experts are working as quickly as they can to get answers.”
Tuesday, Nortion said staff may still use pen and paper in lieu of computers, but are continuing to help patients receive the care they need.
In a statement Friday, a spokesperson for Norton said: "Patients can call their provider's office for a written prescription that can be picked up. If that is not an option, the provider's office can help with a solution. We always want patients to be able to get the medications they need.”
Reece said they were never told picking up a written prescription was an option.
Overall, she said a bit more communication could’ve gone a long way.
“Because you don't really think about their side of it when you're needing your medication filled, so had they told us in the beginning, it would have been a lot easier on everyone,” Reece said.
Tuesday, Murphy revealed that on May 9 the Information Services team noticed suspicious activity on the network and were "alerted to the receipt of a faxed communication containing threats and demands."
The team then took the network offline and removed access to the internet and email. She added the security team is also working to determine if each application is safe to bring back online and are analyzing them thoroughly.
However, she did emphasize that the network was never out of control.
Meijer’s has not provided a comment as of this writing.
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