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O’Fallon, Ill. Brian Wilkerson can’t get back the prescriptions he needs. Calls made to the in-charge of the hospital to get him medicines have gone unanswered.
He told 5 On Your Side on Sunday, “I tried to call this last week and my phone rang, rang four or five times and then went off.”
Wilkerson’s disappointment came as HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon announced it was closing its facility care amid a week-long systemwide shutdown.
St. Elizabeth’s posted on Facebook on Saturday to announce the suspension of service at the hospital, citing the outage.
The post said, “St. Elizabeth’s Emergency Department is always open for your emergency needs.” It states that anyone experiencing chest pain or major trauma should not delay care and should call 911 immediately.
Some patients may not find it difficult to sit in a car and drive to the hospital. But, it’s not that easy for Wilkerson. He is dependent on a wheelchair for mobility and requires medical assistance to walk, not to mention the distance he has to travel in the first place.
“Driving 35 miles to the doctors and 35 miles to the pharmacy and then 15 miles back home,” Wilkerson said. are grappling with.” ,
He is even more concerned about the possibility of his personal and medical information being leaked.
Wilkerson said, “He hasn’t told us anything and it would be nice if he did. It would take away some of the tension and anxiety.”
The hospital said in a statement Wednesday that the outage was reported on August 27 and has affected St. Elizabeth’s ability to access nearly all online operating systems. The outage also affected the hospital’s phone system.
Related: Internet shutdown due to system outage, order in Metro East Hospital
On Sunday, a week after the outage began, an HSHS spokesperson told 5 On Your Side that federal agencies were now involved in the investigation of the outage.
The spokesperson did not provide an update on when the system would be restored.
The hospital has not listed a reason for the cuts, and has declined to say whether patients’ records were leaked.
Other local hospitals affected by the HSHS outage include:
This is a developing story. 5 On Your Side will update the story as soon as the information is confirmed.
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