LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Norton Healthcare patients continue to be left with unanswered questions after a cyberattack disrupted operations two weeks ago.

Norton provides health care across the Louisville-area and serves about 600,000 patients a year.

Since the attack, some people have had procedures or surgeries canceled, with the understanding they will be rescheduled. Others have had to spend days calling and placed on hold trying to have prescriptions refilled.

Karin Talbott-Hill's schedule leading up to Derby is typically busy with work. She purposefully scheduled several appointments and procedures after Derby.

“The procedures that were scheduled, unfortunately all of them have been canceled," Talbott-Hill said. "I actually took my personal time off, PTO days, in order to meet my medical obligations only to be told I could not be accommodated at that time, so that was frustrating.” 

While Talbott-Hill acknowledges her providers have been helpful, she still has no estimate when her procedures will be rescheduled.

"I would like to get these procedures done to give me a little peace of mind as we approach 60," she said.

However, peace of mind is another factor that has been disrupted for patients. Norton has been unable to say whether or not patient or employee information was compromised.

"This is still a very active and ongoing investigation," said Renee Murphy, Norton Healthcare's chief marketing and communications officer. "There's a thorough review that's going on right now, of all of our systems and applications."

Murphy said Norton "proactively" took down network systems after employees noticed suspicious activity and received a fax containing threats and demands.

"We want to let the community know that we know our processes are a little bit different right now," Murphy said. "They're a little bit different so that care can continue. What happened to us in the cyber event, again, was something that happened to us and we've responded accordingly in a way that care can continue."

Murphy encourages patients to check Norton's website or call their providers with questions about care. However, several have dealt with delays from imaging, lab and test results, MyChart messaging, and prescriptions.

Kevin Kays said it took five days to receive a paper prescription to refill his son's ADHD medication.

"It's stressful because I want to make sure he didn't run out," Kays said.

Kays said it took several calls over the course of many days to receive the prescription. He has been frustrated with lack of information from Norton.

"There's not enough transparency about what really happened," he said.

Norton could not provide a specific timeline or date when operations will return to normal.

Norton is a healthcare giant with about $4.7 billion in assets, including five hospitals and eight outpatient centers. The system also operates 18 urgent care clinics and 289 doctors’ offices. Norton brought in $3.6 billion in revenue in 2022.

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