Cyber Incident Disrupts New Mexico Hospital, Diverts Patients

A cybersecurity incident forced the University of New Mexico Health System to divert ambulances, cancel appointments at more than 30 clinics and restrict access to its main hospital in Albuquerque on Monday. The system began restoring hospital and clinic services in phases later that day.

The health system told patients not to go to its main hospital. Ambulances carrying people with serious injuries were directed to other facilities, temporarily leaving New Mexico without a hospital capable of handling the most serious trauma cases. The UNM Health System operates the state’s only Level 1 trauma center.

Presbyterian Healthcare Services and Lovelace Health System, two other major New Mexico providers, coordinated with UNM and accepted additional patients. Staff at UNM locations in Albuquerque and nearby Rio Rancho told some patients to reschedule appointments. The UNM Health Sciences Center, the state’s largest academic medical center, canceled classes Monday.

UNM has not disclosed the cause or scope of the incident. Several employees reported seeing messages on their computers late Monday morning that claimed student, employee and patient data had been stolen. A health system spokesperson declined to comment, citing an active law enforcement investigation.

In Albuquerque, FBI spokesperson Margot Cravens confirmed that the agency was assisting local partners but provided no further details. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and Albuquerque Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The health system conducts about 900,000 outpatient visits and receives about 100,000 emergency room visits each year, according to its website. Its facilities include more than 30 clinics and the state’s only Level 1 trauma center.

Cyberattacks affecting hospitals, including incidents involving ransom demands, have occurred for about a decade, according to Josephine Wolff, a professor of cybersecurity policy at Tufts University. She described messages displayed directly on employees’ computers as unusual and said the incident reflected the difficulty of protecting digital systems used in medical care. Wolff said, “How much work we still have to do to get better at defending ourselves.”