By HFT Staff

The temporary ambulance diversion from HealthAlliance Hospital and Margaretville Hospital has ended, and the hospitals are now fully operational and have resumed admitting patients. Local EMS operators were notified to resume transporting emergency patients to HealthAlliance Hospital and Margaretville Hospital. There is an exception for emergency stroke patients, who will still temporarily be taken to other area hospitals. 

HealthAlliance Hospital and Margaretville Hospital remained open during this diversion, and walk-in patients were treated, assessed and either released or stabilized. 

The end of the EMS diversion has been communicated to all EMS operators, other area medical facilities who were affected, elected officials and the New York State Department of Health. 

As previously communicated, this temporary diversion was necessary because HealthAlliance Hospital, Margaretville Hospital and Mountainside Residential Care Center experienced a cyberattack that impacted their IT systems. 

To address the threat and take the necessary steps to fully restore our secure network, on Friday, October 20, their IT experts shut down all connected IT systems at HealthAlliance Hospital, Margaretville Hospital and Mountainside Residential Care Center. They then began standing up their IT systems, a process that is ongoing, but they have regained all necessary capabilities to resume full operations. 

They will provide further information to the community as it becomes available.