Ransomware attack on major US blood center prompts hundreds of hospitals to implement shortage protocols

One of the largest blood centers in the U.S. is operating at reduced capacity after ransomware hackers shut down parts of its system. 

Nonprofit OneBlood, which provides blood to healthcare facilities across the southeast, released a statement on Wednesday warning the public that the ransomware attack is impacting their ability to operate.

“We have implemented manual processes and procedures to remain operational. Manual processes take significantly longer to perform and impacts inventory availability,” said Susan Forbes, OneBlood senior vice president of corporate communications.

“In an effort to further manage the blood supply we have asked the more than 250 hospitals we serve to activate their critical blood shortage protocols and to remain in that status for the time being.”

OneBlood said it is now working with cybersecurity specialists alongside federal and state officials to resolve the crisis. The organization provides blood and other healthcare material to hundreds of hospitals across Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

The organization is still operational and has continued to collect, test and distribute blood but is “operating at a significantly reduced capacity.”

The incident has prompted an outpouring of support from other blood organizations and the AABB Disaster Task Force is now organizing efforts to send blood and platelets to OneBlood. There is an urgent need for O positive, O negative and platelet donations, but all blood types are needed. 

Forbes said the company immediately began an investigation to confirm the attack before kicking off efforts to address the incident. 

“Our comprehensive response efforts are ongoing and we are working diligently to restore full functionality to our systems as expeditiously as possible,” Forbes explained. 

“The blood supply cannot be taken for granted. The situation we are dealing with is ongoing. If you are eligible to donate, we urge you to please make an appointment to donate as soon as possible.”

The attack was first reported by CNN, which obtained an advisory sent to the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center that warned of potential shortages at hospitals in Florida. The organization has had to manually label blood products due to the ransomware attack, CNN reported. 

The attack comes just one week after a prominent U.K. blood test provider said it has made significant progress in rebuilding substantial parts of its IT infrastructure following a ransomware attack in June. 

Pathology services provider Synnovis was attacked by the Qilin ransomware gang last month, causing the cancellation of more than 1,000 critical surgeries and forcing England’s National Health Service to issue urgent calls for O-type blood donations. 

The ransomware attack left U.K. national blood stocks “in a very fragile position,” according to a letter sent two weeks ago to National Health Service chief executives.

Ransomware gangs also attacked the national lab service of South Africa, gravely impacting the country’s efforts to deal with several concurrent health crises — mpox, HIV and tuberculosis.