LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Park Duvalle Community Health Center patient is speaking out exclusively to WHAS11, after she claims her care was compromised during the cyber-attack on the healthcare clinic’s servers.
On June 7, the Park Duvalle Community Health Center servers were attacked by cyber-criminals, who encrypted the computers and phones inside the centers, and held the system hostage for nearly two months.
But staff didn't immediately tell patients.
In fact, most didn't know until just last week when WHAS11 FOCUS investigative team started asking questions.
During a phone call with the CEO Ann Hagan-Grigsby, journalist Shay McAlister asked, “Why not acknowledge this sooner and try to spread word to patients?”
Grigsby-Hagan responded, “Hindsight is 20/20 and maybe that would have been good practice."
That’s when a patient called WHAS11. She wanted to share her story. But first, she had a response to the CEO’s response.
"No. No that's not good enough. When you are dealing with people's health care, a simple 'meh' is not good enough," she said.
The patient didn’t want to share her name for the interview but she did share, "I am a mother of three. I am in my early thirties. I've been going to Park Duvalle for a little over three years."
"This was probably the worst two months I've had- mental health wise- in several years. Part of it is the not knowing. Part of it is the lack of information and communication," the patient said.
The patient said she went into withdrawal when the clinic couldn't fill her prescriptions two weeks ago at her last appointment. She goes to the clinic for mental health services, and antidepressants and anxiety medication.
"If I don't get them- I don't live. It’s that important”, she said.
When the patient tried calling in the days that followed, she said, she couldn't get an answer. She said, "and then we're left feeling really abandoned by the system we're supposed to trust."
She decided to speak out when she heard clinic leaders say patient care was never compromised and now she has a message for them.
"There is some people who use their services and they are a life line. I just would ask that they don't ever forget that," she said.
Have a news tip? Email focus@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.