University of Rochester Medical Center

I first got the call from Strong Memorial Hospital CEO Kathy Parrinello at 4:47 a.m. on Friday. By 5 a.m., about 60 URMC institutional leaders and IT experts were on a command center call with a unified focus of minimizing disruption to patient care. It was the start of a potentially difficult day, but it only served as a powerful reminder of how fortunate I am to be a part of URMC. The CrowdStrike global outage had disrupted our systems. But together, in the face of an unexpected and sudden challenge, our URMC teams rose to the occasion and demonstrated the strength and spirit of our organization. As a result, the impact to our patients was minimal. From those early hours, our IT and clinical leaders jumped into action, ensuring emergency and inpatient care continued without interruption and restoring critical systems within a few hours. Elective procedures and outpatient services continued safely with some delays Friday, and all UR Medicine patient facilities were open as scheduled the next day.   It was truly inspiring to see the dedication and teamwork displayed by so many, and the intense collaboration between IT and operations teams. With a precise and focused recovery plan, and innovative problem-solving, we were able to quickly overcome multiple obstacles. Our IT teams worked tirelessly through the weekend, manually rebooting computers at a rate of 300 to 500 per hour, so that by Monday evening, about 20,000 of our nearly 22,000 affected computers and servers were operational. In addition, Rochester Regional Health does not use CrowdStrike the way URMC does and had minimal impacts. The fact that their IT team called to offer help tells you something about this community and our shared patient-centered values. A sincere thank you to all of our faculty and staff for their patience, flexibility, and unwavering dedication in navigating this challenge. You all displayed immense collaboration with creative solutions that ensured we could provide the safe and high-quality care our community relies on us to deliver each day. The resilience displayed by each and every member of our URMC team has been simply amazing. The global outage could have been one of the troublesome moments of my early tenure as CEO, but it turned out to be just another moment that made me immensely proud to be part of the URMC family and the Rochester community.

Congratulations to the University of Rochester Batten Center (URBC) for being one of only five centers in the nation to be designated a Center of Excellence by the BDSRA Foundation! This team is at the forefront of Batten disease research and care, offering a multidisciplinary approach to treating Batten disease, ensuring that patients receive coordinated care from a team of specialists. 👏 #URochesterResearch

Stride with Pride! We had a great time at the Rochester Pride Parade this weekend where many UR Medicine team members from all over the region came together to celebrate and support the LGBTQ community. 🌈

URMC is responding to the global Crowdstrike software issue. Our electronic medical record system has not been affected, and safe patient care is ongoing. As of 4 p.m. Friday, all patient care facilities in Monroe County are open, including pharmacies and all but two lab patient service centers. However, some computers remain down in many areas, which makes it difficult for staff to work as efficiently as usual. Facilities that are usually open on Saturdays will maintain their weekend schedules; patients whose weekend appointments need to be rescheduled will be contacted.     Our IT teams will continue working through the weekend to bring more computers online, with a goal of returning clinical operations to full efficiency as quickly as possible. As noted below, nearly all elective surgical procedures scheduled for today are taking place, with schedule delays at most locations. We appreciate our patients’ understanding as we work to restore full operations as quickly as possible. We will post updates throughout the day through the URMC Newsroom: https://lnkd.in/eXQ5ez8k

Did you know that breast self-exams aren’t recommended anymore? Here's what you should do instead.

Thanks to the hard work of our exceptional clinical care teams, we are proud that Strong Memorial Hospital is recognized as the #1 hospital in the Rochester region and the top hospital in NY outside of the NYC area by U.S. News & World Report. Join us in celebrating our teams and their dedication to caring for patients and their families!

The Brighter Days Pediatric Mental Health Urgent Care Center is now open! The first of its kind in the area, the center accepts walk-ins for people up to age 18 from 12-7 PM every day. About the service: https://urmc.info/bdmhc

On this day one month ago, what were we up to...? We gathered together as Tom Golisano announced the historic $50 million commitment to build the Golisano Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Institute! Everyone was touched to hear from Emily Bruhsafer, a decorated Special Olympics athlete and employee of Noyes Health, as she shared what this important work means to her. What exactly is an IDD? Learn more: https://urmc.info/IDDfaq

Nine years ago, the Golisano Children's Hospital tower opened its doors and started caring for young patients in our community! Thank you to our amazing teams for making such a difference in our community throughout the years. 👏

Realizing the unique perspective his identity provided him, Franciso "Paco" Carujanu Barrera, MD, has focused his studies on Latino and LGBTQ communities and tackling tobacco-related health disparities. Find out what inspires his work and why providing these communities with specific tools is so important: https://urmc.info/ES1