MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute, Michigan Healthcare Cybersecurity Council and University of Michigan Medicine have teamed up to bring awareness to local hospital IT workers.
Discussed at the Northern Center Tuesday included concerns of rural coverage. Compared to the Lower Peninsula, U.P. hospitals are unable to rely on as much support from nearby facilities in the case of a cyber attack. All this, while protecting digital records and communication systems.
“The issue up here is if a hospital goes down, it’s going to affect multiple counties and patients, where downstate you might have another center within 25 to 30 miles,” explained Michigan Healthcare Cybersecurity Council President, Greg Sieg. “At the end of the day, threat actors don’t care about the size of a hospital or the patient demographics, they’re just looking for a way in.”
Staffers from around the region met to discuss challenges in burnout, managing these coverage concerns, and planning ahead in the case of a cyber incident.
“When we think about cybersecurity in healthcare, it’s not so much about information security, it’s really about patient safety,” said Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute Director Michael Sauer. “Having an event like this is absolutely critical.”
This is the fourth year the event has gathered partners from across the state to discuss and work through these challenges. More information about NMU’s U.P. Cybersecurity Institute can be found here.
