Update: HSHS, Prevea get some phones back, but outages continue

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - HSHS and Prevea Health continue suffering a widespread communications outage Tuesday. A statement Tuesday afternoon said hospitals’ main telephone lines are working again.

People trying to reach a loved one in the hospital who doesn’t have a personal cell phone can call the hospital directly at these numbers:

• HSHS St. Vincent Hospital, Green Bay - (920) 433-0111
• HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center, Green Bay - (920) 498-4200
• HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital, Sheboygan - (920) 459-8300
• HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital, Oconto Falls - (920) 846-3444
• HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, Eau Claire - (715) 717-4121
• HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, Chippewa Falls - (715) 723-1811

Prevea Health is also using its main phone line, (920) 496-4700.

Callers might encounter busy signals or other connection issues since all calls are going through those numbers.

Prevea says it will post updates for the two health systems on a website, www.prevea.com/home/updates [updated link].

Prevea Health posted on its website that the outage was affecting phones, internet and communications systems, and clinical and administrative applications. Action 2 News asked if this was a cyber attack. HSHS and Prevea Health representatives responded saying they have “no further information to provide at this time.”

All 15 HSHS hospitals in Wisconsin and Illinois are impacted. There are 6 hospitals in Wisconsin and 9 hospitals in Illinois.

Here is a list of Wisconsin hospitals impacted: HSHS St. Vincent Hospital (Green Bay), St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center (Green Bay), St. Nicholas Hospital (Sheboygan), St. Clare Memorial Hospital (Oconto Falls), St. Joseph’s Hospital (Chippewa Falls), and Sacred Heart Hospital (Eau Claire). Prevea said its phone service has been sporadic and MyPrevea.com and MyChart are unavailable.

Here is a list of Illinois hospitals impacted: St. John’s Hospital (Springfield), St. Mary’s Hospital (Decatur), St. Francis Hospital (Litchfield), St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital (Effingham), St. Joseph’s Hospital (Highland), St. Joseph’s Hospital (Breese), St. Elizabeth’s Hospital (O’Fallon), Holy Family Hospital (Greenville), and Good Shepherd Hospital (Shelbyville).

People should keep their scheduled appointments.

In a statement, Prevea wrote, “We have well-established downtime policies and procedures that work well when we have technology issues.” The Hospital Sisters Health Systems and Prevea posted identical messages on Facebook pages and Prevea Health’s home page saying continued care for their patients is their top priority.

They’re working on restoring communications systems and setting up alternative methods of communication in the meantime.

We have not heard of any other local hospital system having an outage like this right now.

People with loved ones in the hospital are left with a lot of questions right now. Stephanie Johnson has a father recovering from surgery. She reached out to Action 2 News after multiple failed attempts to call him on Sunday.

“That’s their only method of communication would be to call, and they might not have somebody local to physically go to the hospital and get updates from the care team. Yeah, that’s gotta be really frightening for folks,” Johnson expressed.

HSHS and Prevea Health released a statement:

HSHS hospitals and Prevea Health continue to work through our temporary system outage. Currently, access to our phone system is sporadic and MyChart and MyPrevea communications are temporarily unavailable.

HSHS and Prevea have well-established downtime policies and procedures when we experience technology outages and we are following those protocols and continuing to care for our patients with the same level of quality, safe and effective care.

We acknowledge this outage is causing inconvenience for some patients and that services may take longer to schedule or receive. We are grateful to our caregivers, colleagues and physicians, who are doing everything possible to ensure we can continue to serve our community while we work diligently to resolve the outages.

We will provide updates on the situation as they become available.

The Prevea Health main phone line at 920-496-4700 is currently working, however those calling may experience delays or connectivity issues.

Action 2 News reached out to other local hospital systems in the area. Bellin and Gundersen Health system has not been impacted by any network issues and is continuing to monitor the situation. Aurora did not respond to an email.

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