Parkview Health, a health system serving patients in Indiana and Ohio, said on October 19 that it is experiencing a “systemwide internet outage” after it proactively disabled its network in response to “suspicious activity.” The outage has left the MyChart patient portal unavailable. Parkview has not said the cause is a cyberattack and has not described the activity.
Parkview Says There Is No Indication Patient Data Was Compromised
Parkview first told patients about the outage on October 18. In its update the following day, the organization said it had taken its own network offline as a precaution after detecting the suspicious activity. It said there is “no indication” that patient data was compromised.
The company has not confirmed what the suspicious activity was, how it was detected, or whether an outside party was involved. Until Parkview provides that information, the incident is best described as a suspected security event rather than a confirmed cyberattack.
Parkview has not said which systems, if any, the suspicious activity touched, and it has not named a cause for the shutdown. A Parkview spokesperson said, “We are working to restore services as quickly and safely as possible.”
MyChart, Reminders and Phone Lines Disrupted at Parkview
The patient-facing effects are broad. MyChart, the patient portal, is unavailable. The outage also affects the online doctor search and has stopped appointment reminders, and it has contributed to high call volumes as patients try to reach the system by phone.
Parkview describes the outage as “systemwide,” so it is not limited to a single hospital or clinic. The affected services cover patients in both Indiana and Ohio, which makes this a multi-state disruption for a single health system. The loss of the portal removes a main route patients use to view information and contact providers, and the phone lines have absorbed that demand.
Parkview Tells Patients to Call Providers or Use Walk-In Clinics
Parkview has told patients with urgent needs to call their provider’s office or use a walk-in clinic. For emergencies, patients should call 911. The instructions direct patients to telephone and in-person channels while digital services are down. Parkview’s notices list the MyChart portal, the online doctor search, appointment reminders and phone lines as the services affected, and the organization has not said when each will return.
Why Taking a Network Offline Is a Containment Decision
Parkview described the shutdown as a proactive step. Parkview chose to take its own network offline while it investigates. The trade-off is that systems patients and staff rely on go dark as well, which is what happened with MyChart.
The wording Parkview has used so far, “suspicious activity” and a “systemwide internet outage,” does not identify the cause. Parkview has also not said when services are expected to return.
Scale of Any Data Impact Remains Unknown
At this stage the scale of any data impact is unknown. Parkview’s statement that there is no indication of compromised patient data reflects what it knew when it spoke, and the investigation is still in progress. The organization has not disclosed details of that investigation.
The restoration effort is under way, but Parkview has given no timeline and has not said whether the shutdown will be lifted in stages or all at once. Patients in Indiana and Ohio are currently dependent on phone contact and clinic visits rather than the portal for non-emergency needs.
The sequence so far runs as follows: Parkview notified patients of the outage on October 18, said on October 19 that it had disabled the network over suspicious activity, and reported that MyChart was still down at that point. Parkview has not yet said whether the event is a cyberattack.
