# Mississippi Health System Shuts Down Clinics Statewide After Ransomware Attack
The **University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC)**, one of the state’s largest healthcare providers, has been forced to close all 35 of its clinics across Mississippi following a devastating **ransomware attack** that struck Thursday[1][2]. The cyberattack has disrupted healthcare services for countless patients, canceled elective procedures, and forced medical staff to revert to decades-old manual record-keeping practices to continue patient care.
## The Attack and Its Immediate Impact
The ransomware attack hit UMMC’s systems early Thursday morning, compromising “many” IT systems throughout the healthcare network[3]. The breach knocked offline the hospital’s **Epic electronic medical records platform**, a critical system that healthcare providers rely on daily to access patient information, schedule appointments, and coordinate care[3]. In response to the digital assault, hospital administrators made the difficult decision to temporarily shut down all clinic locations statewide as a precautionary measure[2].
The closure immediately affected thousands of patients seeking routine medical care. Richard Bell, a 55-year-old patient with lymphoma, drove three hours from Oxford to UMMC’s main campus in Jackson on Friday expecting to receive bloodwork and chemotherapy treatment—only to discover that all services were unavailable[1]. “It was all shut down,” Bell said. “It gets pretty frustrating.”[1] For cancer patients like Bell who require time-sensitive treatments, the disruption poses serious health risks. University officials stated they were reaching out to patients requiring urgent care such as chemotherapy to help reschedule appointments, though immediate rescheduling was not always possible[1].
## Operational Challenges and Manual Workarounds
While emergency rooms and hospital inpatient services remained operational, the loss of digital systems forced UMMC staff to implement downtime procedures[3]. Healthcare providers reverted to manual documentation methods, taking patient information with pen and paper—a practice that many younger staff members had never experienced[1]. Vice Chancellor LouAnn Woodward acknowledged this challenge at a Thursday news conference, noting that “some of us in the room have been here long enough that we remember taking care of patients with pen and paper.”[1]
This manual approach, while allowing essential hospital services to continue, significantly slows operations and increases the risk of errors. Outpatient and ambulatory surgeries, procedures, and imaging appointments were all canceled and scheduled for rescheduling[3]. The hospital’s website became inaccessible for a period Thursday morning, and a recorded message on the main phone line cited “system problems,” further complicating patients’ ability to obtain information[3].
## Investigation and Law Enforcement Response
UMMC officials confirmed that the incident is a **ransomware attack**, though they have not disclosed specific details about the attackers’ demands or the full extent of the breach[4]. The attackers have communicated with the university, but university leadership has remained tight-lipped about their requests[1]. No ransomware group has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack as of the latest reports[3].
The **Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)** is actively involved in the investigation, working alongside UMMC to determine the scope of the attack and whether patients’ sensitive personal information was compromised[1]. FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Eikhoff stated at a Thursday news conference that the agency’s top priority is restoring systems to resume patient care[1]. The investigation remains ongoing, with university officials warning that the shutdown could continue for days as they evaluate the full extent of the infiltration[1].
## A Growing Threat to Healthcare Infrastructure
This incident underscores the escalating threat that ransomware poses to critical healthcare infrastructure nationwide[2]. Medical systems have increasingly become targets for cybercriminals seeking to exploit sensitive patient data and disrupt essential services. The attack on UMMC is particularly significant because the hospital serves as **Mississippi’s only academic medical center and a key referral hub for complex care across the state**, meaning its closure affects not only Jackson residents but patients throughout the entire state[3].
Mississippi healthcare providers have faced repeated cyber-related disruptions in recent years. In December 2025, Singing River Health System shut down select systems to assess a potential cyber incident[3]. The same healthcare system suffered a “malicious and sophisticated ransomware attack” in August 2023 and previously shut down its network during an attempted intrusion in 2018[3].
## Looking Forward
University officials have not provided a specific timeline for restoring systems and resuming normal clinic operations[3]. The closure, which initially lasted through at least Friday, may extend for several additional days as investigators work to understand the full scope of the attack[4]. UMMC continues to coordinate with the FBI and other relevant agencies to determine whether data was accessed and to restore critical systems.
For Mississippi patients, the UMMC ransomware attack represents a sobering reminder of how vulnerable healthcare systems are to cyber threats and how such attacks can have real consequences for patient care and safety. As hospitals nationwide grapple with increasing cyber threats, the incident highlights the urgent need for stronger cybersecurity measures and contingency planning across the healthcare industry.
Original source: NPR News – Mississippi health system shuts down clinics statewide after ransomware attack
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