Cleveland's University Hospitals still working through outage after 'unusual activity'
Illustration: Press Pass USACleveland-based University Hospitals disconnected its systems from the internet after detecting unusual activity on its servers on October 22, taking its MyChart patient portal and parts of its website offline — and patient access was still limited days later, according to an incident registry updated October 25.
"While there is currently no impact to patient care delivery, certain digital services are offline while we investigate," a University Hospitals spokesperson said in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review. "We are working around the clock to address the issue, but anticipate digital service disruptions may continue for the next few days."
The health system said it activated its response protocols and took the systems offline out of an abundance of caution. It told Fox affiliate WJW that it is working with outside experts to determine the scope and the effect on hospital and outpatient operations.
As of October 23, the system's website displayed a banner warning that only limited services were available and acknowledging problems with MyChart. Patients with questions about test results or appointments were directed to contact their provider's office directly, and to call 866-844-2273 to schedule appointments.
University Hospitals has not said whether the activity was a cyberattack, whether patient data was exposed, or when all digital services will be fully restored. The 18-hospital system completed its transition to a single Epic electronic health record in 2023, converting 5.6 million patient records into one system.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review (Oct 23, 2026); WJW Fox 8 Cleveland, via Becker's; DysruptionHub cyber incident registry (updated Oct 25, 2026).
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