For Mississippians, the cost of the attack may be difficult to estimate in dollars. Social media posts show countless residents facing the cancellation of important medical appointments. Most have no way of contacting their healthcare providers, though Woodward said today that a phone line to provide more information was in the works, although this service was not available by press time. All \u201celective\u201d procedures are cancelled, meaning patients should only expect treatment for serious emergencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And even in the case of procedures which continue, patient outcomes during ransomware attacks are dramatically worse, explained Dr. Jeff Tully, co-director at the University of San Diego\u2019s Center for Healthcare Cybersecurity.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour years ago, we looked at emergency department patients that were being treated in a town with a ransomware attack,\u201d Tully told the Mississippi Free Press in an afternoon interview. \u201cIn a followup study a year later looking at that same attack, for patients who had a cardiac arrest\u2014you had about a 40% chance of surviving with an intact brain before the attack. During the attack that number went down to 4.5%.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is a tenfold risk in death for a common, life-threatening emergency, along with 40% longer waits in the ER for hospitals surrounding ransomware attacks. More strokes and higher mortality are also within what Tully called the \u201cblast radius\u201d of such an attack.<\/p>\n
![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/LouAnn-Woodward-2-19-26_cred-Rogelio-V.-Solis.jpg\")
Dr. LouAnn Woodward, associate vice chancellor for health affairs, and vice dean of the school of medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, speaks at a UMMC press event about the university\u2019s recent ransomware attack on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Jackson, Miss. MFP Photo by Rogelio V. Solis<\/p>\n
Even so, it\u2019s difficult to truly quantify the severe damage of ransomware attacks on hospitals. \u201cIt\u2019s really almost like fog of war,\u201d Tully said. \u201cBecause a lot of that data would be contained within electronic health records. Well, that\u2019s what goes out in these attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
And this disruption to health systems is increasingly lasting longer and longer. \u201cTen years ago, ransomware attacks lasted three, four, five days,\u201d Tully said. \u201cThe trend with these types of attacks the last four or five years, to last weeks to months is not uncommon.\u201d<\/p>\n
At UMMC clinics, significant procedures, up to and including chemotherapy, have been cancelled. Noelle Covington, a Mississippi mother, told the Mississippi Free Press in an interview that she\u2019d been waiting at Sanderson Tower at the Mississippi Children\u2019s Hospital for an appointment early this morning for her child. One by one, parents were instructed to leave: without records systems, their appointments couldn\u2019t be completed.<\/p>\n
Full Scope of Attack Still Unclear<\/p>\n
The cancellation of so many appointments and procedures may be harmful. But hospital leadership said the cancellations were necessary for the hospital system to stabilize itself. \u201c\u200aOur top priority is to be sure that we can still provide that care to the patients at the bedside \u2026 we are trying to mitigate the volume a little bit so that we can give the attention to those emergency and urgent cases and, and quiet things down a little bit on the elective front until we get a better handle on all of this,\u201d Woodward said.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UMMC-Campus_JFP-File-Photo-Jessica-King.jpg\")
The University of Mississippi Medical Center\u2019s computer systems went down due to a cybersecurity attack on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. The hospital system closed its clinics statewide and canceled most of its appointments in response. JFP File Photo by Jessica King<\/p>\n
Woodward couldn\u2019t comment on what protected health information may have been compromised in the attack. \u201c\u200aThose are the pieces that are still being determined. But as I said earlier, we have taken our systems down. We are working to mitigate all the risks that we know of.\u201d<\/p>\n