Minnesota hospitals, medical systems impacted by CrowdStrike software outage
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota health care systems are working to recover after a technical outage overnight caused Microsoft systems to go down globally.
The Minnesota Hospital Association, which represents hospitals across the state including Abbott Northwestern, CentraCare, and Children's Minnesota, says the outage is "reportedly impacting some electronic medical records, medical dictation applications, workforce management functions, as well as individual workstations and a limited range of medical equipment and machines."
The association said that their priority is on minimizing impact on patients, and teams will contact patients directly if health appointments need to be adjusted.
Allina Health said its teams are working to restore computers and systems, and are trying to limit impacts to patient care. A spokesperson added that the organization has measures in place to address developing care needs, and they will contact patients directly if there are impacts to their appointments.
Rosena Moore drove from Northfield to pick up her sister-in-law at Abbott Northwestern on Friday, but she couldn't be discharged to go home without the paperwork.
"They called a long time ago that she could go at noon, and they still don't have everything done that they need to be done," Moore said. "We said we'd be here at noon to get her and we're still waiting."
The outage was caused by a technical problem that global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said it has since identified in its software. CrowdStrike provides antivirus software to Microsoft and Windows devices, and says it is working to resolve the issue.
IT system meltdowns have grounded planes and caused mass cancellations globally. Flights at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were either canceled or delayed, and customers experienced long wait times.