OneBlood says systems are rebooting after cyberattack

Florida’s top blood supplier says its critical software systems are starting to come back online following a cyberattack that led to some state hospitals canceling optional surgeries.

“We continue to move in the right direction and anticipate solid improvement of the blood supply over the next few days,” said Susan Forbes, OneBlood’s senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations.

OneBlood supplies products that are used by 80% to 90% of the hospitals in the state. After a July 29 ransomware attack, the supplier had to switch to manual processes and procedures.

“Manual processes take longer to perform,” Forbes said. “We felt the impact of this the most when it came to labeling blood for release to hospitals. Despite the challenges, we have remained operational throughout the ransomware event. Blood drives are taking place, our donor centers have remained open, and we continue to see a tremendous response from OneBlood donors answering the call for blood donations.”

The cyberattack on OneBlood prompted hospitals to seek additional units of blood from other sources. Blood centers sent blood and platelets to OneBlood.

Forbes added that the investigation into the ransomware event is still ongoing.

Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew told Florida Politics it was a Russian cyberattack, but OneBlood has not confirmed that to be the case.

Mayhew said there is a significant shortage of platelets, which is “absolutely for some hospitals affecting their ability to do transplants, open-heart surgeries and treatments for oncology patients.”

State officials said on Sunday that the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) purchased platelets to help out. Kevin Guthrie, the Executive Director of the Division of Emergency Management, said AHCA was getting the “inventory back up.”

The problems with OneBlood occurred right ahead of Hurricane Debby, which made landfall in north central Florida on Monday morning. OneBlood said there remains an urgent need for platelet donations.