Belgian hospitals unable to pay employees due to ransomware attack

Two Belgian hospitals can’t pay 1,200 of their staff members because of a recent ransomware attack. Instead, they have to manage with a partial advance payment.

Earlier this month, the AZ Monica disclosed that it had become the victim of a cyberattack. To prevent the incident from escalating, the hospital decided to temporarily shut down all servers and cancel 70 surgeries.

In addition, all planned and non-urgent treatments were suspended, and emergency care was reduced to the bare minimum. Ambulances were partially diverted to surrounding hospitals. Due to the incident, two hospitals were unable to access their electronic patient files.

“For the management team, ensuring the safety and continuity of care for our patients is paramount. We are actively working to ensure this. We do not want to take any risks when it comes to our patients,” Geert Smits, Director of the AZ Monica, told Belgian news outlets during a press conference.

The aftermath of the cyberattack is still ongoing. According to the hospital’s most recent update, the investigation into the incident hasn’t revealed that any patient data has been leaked or misused.

Furthermore, some IT systems have been restored. Approximately 70% of planned surgical procedures and scheduled consultations are taking place. Other departments are operating on limited capacity.

Unfortunately, the IT systems of the human resources department are still down, meaning that doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel aren’t getting paid their full salary.

“Since the cyberattack, shifts, overtime, weekend shifts, and exchanges can’t be registered correctly. The reality is that the hospital is currently unable to calculate wages correctly. We should also mention that many employees were temporarily unemployed for some days as a result of the cyberattack,” says Tijl Denis of the BBTK/ABVV trade union to Belgian news outlet the Gazet van Antwerpen.

CEO Smits reassures his staff that they will be partially compensated for their work and will be fully paid next month.

“We have decided to use December’s wages as a benchmark. 90% of these wages will be paid. The systems will be restarted in the coming weeks. Then we will be able to make recalculations in February and pay wages as normal,” he says in an interview with VRT NWS.

Staff members who worked less than average in December, an individual solution will be sought. Doctors who work at the hospital as self-employed professionals will also receive provisional payment.

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