Ambulances turned away as computer virus infects Gwinnett Medical Center computers

By Misty Williams and Joel Anderson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gwinnett Medical Center on Friday confirmed it has instructed ambulances to take patients to other area hospitals when possible after discovering a system-wide computer virus that slowed patient registration and other operations at its campuses in Lawrenceville and Duluth.

Enlarge photo

Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com A computer virus in its patient registration system forced Gwinnett Medical Center, seen in this Septeber 2011 photo, to instruct ambulances to take patients to other local hospitals.

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Staff members discovered the virus Wednesday afternoon and have been working since then with outside I.T. experts to fix the problem, spokeswoman Beth Okun said. In the meantime, the health system has been forced to switch back to paperwork.

The situation is expected to last through the weekend, Okun said.

Patients were waiting longer at registration on Friday, and the virus also was affecting departments such as the pharmacy, radiology and labs. A system of runners are dealing with a variety of tasks, such as running orders down to the pharmacy or delivering X-rays to doctors.

“It is not impacting patient records,” nor has the quality of patient care been compromised, Okun said. “We’re still taking care of patients. We’re placing a great deal of importance on face-to-face care.”

The hospital is still treating patients in emergency situations but is asking people with minor ailments, such as sore throats or sprained ankles, to contact their regular providers, Okun said.

The infection, an “I.T. service interruption virus,” has affected systems intermittently, Okun said. Viruses are not an infrequent occurrence at the hospital, she said, but it’s never seen anything like this one. Law enforcement has not been contacted about the incident.

Gwinnett Medical went to total diversion status because it’s a trauma center and needs to be able to respond rapidly, Okun said. Hospitals sometimes divert patients to other facilities for issues such as running out of available emergency department beds.

Lt. Eric Eberly, spokesman for the Gwinnett County Fire Department, said ambulances have been diverting to other hospitals since Thursday afternoon.

“All our units are being diverted from their facilities … unless it’s severe respiratory distress problems or any kind of cardiac arrest or traumatic arrest situation," Eberly said. "Only dire emergencies are going to be accepted by Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville and Duluth.”

The other hospitals include Emory Eastside Medical Center, Atlanta; DeKalb Medical Center, Decatur; Walton Regional Medical Center, Monroe; and Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville, Eberly said.

-- Dispatch editor David Ibata contributed to this article.