- Meritus Medical Center has seen an increase in patients “attributable to limited capacity at a nearby hospital related to an IT outage at that hospital.”
- Frederick Health says all of its facilities are open except for its health lab, and its emergency department is accepting walk-in patients.
- Meritus Health has increased staffing to handle the patient load and says it is not turning away patients.
- Frederick Health says it is working to restore its systems and is coordinating with the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
UPDATE on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025: Frederick Health is not diverting EMS (ambulances) at this time, per spokesperson Josh Faust around 12:30 p.m.
Meritus Medical Center has put more staff on duty recently as it’s been dealing with an increase in patients the past two weeks, according to an email from Meritus Health officials.
The increase in patients at the Hagerstown-area hospital “is attributable to limited capacity at a nearby hospital related to an IT outage at that hospital,” according to an email from Meritus Health.
The Herald-Mail had asked Meritus officials whether the increase was due, at least in part, to Frederick Health hospital diverting some patients in recent weeks following a ransomware attack.
Frederick Health spokesperson Josh Faust said Wednesday afternoon that all of the Frederick hospital’s facilities were open and operating except for the health lab. The hospital also was accepting ambulance transports in partnership with EMS, as “deemed best and appropriate” through EMS officials.
Frederick’s emergency department was taking walk-in patients, but is “preaching patience” because there could be delays in services, Faust said.
The Frederick emergency department “never directly closed” following the ransomware attack and had been taking walk-in patients, Faust said. When appropriate or necessary, the hospital had diverted patients that would have arrived through EMS transports to other hospitals to help alleviate the situation, he said.
Faust could not immediately say Wednesday if EMS was still diverting any transports to other hospitals.
Meritus Health, in a statement Wednesday to The Herald-Mail, said, “To handle the increased load, we’ve had more staff on duty to get patient conditions assessed and treated. This increased load has had a ripple effect in other areas of the hospital, such as the ICU, which are already treating an increased number of patients due to it being the season for flu, COVID and other upper respiratory illnesses.”
Meritus Health officials re-confirmed Wednesday that it had not been the victim of a ransomware or cyber-attack. The Herald-Mail had inquired with Meritus on Jan. 27, after news of the ransomware attack at the Frederick hospital, whether Meritus was dealing with a ransomware attack.
The increased staffing at Meritus Medical Center includes asking managers to help with patients.
“Meritus never turns away patients who are seeking our care,” the Meritus Health statement says.
The hospital along Hagerstown’s East End has been seeing an increase in patients as a result of it being the season for increases in viral infections such as the flu, COVID and other upper respiratory illnesses. But, Meritus Health officials said they had planned for that increase.
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What we know about Frederick hospital’s status and ransomware attack
Like other hospitals, Frederick Health was already dealing with high patient volumes this time of year due to respiratory illnesses such as flu, COVID and RSV, prior to the ransomware event, Faust said.
The Frederick News-Post, on Jan. 29, reported that Frederick Health had been on red and yellow alert status. Red alert means there are no available beds for adult in-patient critical care, while yellow alert meant the hospital was requesting not to receive new patients who needed urgent medical care. The red-alert status was lifted the evening of Jan. 30.
Faust said he couldn’t speak to the alert system except to say those alerts are “boilerplate responses” from the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems. Frederick Health’s treatment program and MIEMSS “are coordinating on some of that language.”
On Wednesday, Faust shared a Jan. 30 statement by Frederick Health President/CEO Tom Kleinhanzl, that read in part:
“On January 27th, Frederick Health identified suspicious activity affecting our IT systems. We have confirmed that the suspicious activity was a result of ransomware. We took immediate steps to help contain the threat and are working diligently with third-party experts to restore our systems as quickly and safely as possible. Law enforcement has been notified and we will continue to support their investigation.”
While there may be delays in services, Kleinhanzl said, “our clinical staff is trained to provide care in these types of situations and are committed to doing so. Frederick Health medical staff, nurses, employees and volunteers have implemented procedures to mitigate any disruption and provide uninterrupted care to our patients.
“Our mission remains unchanged, and our dedicated healthcare team members continue to work to positively impact the well-being of every individual in the community. I appreciate the support of the community as we navigate this incident and work to return to normal operations,” Kleinhanzl said.
An update on the Frederick Health website, states the health system is working with “third-party cybersecurity experts to bring our systems back online as quickly and safely as possible and in a way that prioritizes patient care.”
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Can patients go to urgent care instead of the emergency department?
Meritus Health’s website lists situations for which patients should go to the emergency department or that would be better treated at an urgent care center.
According to that information, the emergency department is “generally used for life-threatening situations.”
These include a heart attack, stroke, severe burns, serious head injuries, poisoning, difficulty breathing and life-threatening allergic reactions.
Scenarios better for urgent care centers include sore throats, cold and flu, fever, minor aches and sprains, ear infections, allergic reactions, pink eye, rashes, and insect bites and stings.
Meritus Health has two urgent care centers, at Valley Mall in Halfway and in its Medical Plaza at 13620 Crayton Blvd. north of Hagerstown. The one at the mall is open from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the weekend. The urgent care center along Crayton is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
The health system also has an after-hours pediatrics office at Valley Mall.
MeritusNow provides virtual appointments through MeritusHealth.com/Now. As of 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, the next MeritusNow appointment available was at 9 p.m. that evening.
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