Hospital Announces Computer Shutdown

Chester River Hospital Center announces that between Wednesday, July 21 and Sunday, July 25 the Hospital’s computer system will be upgraded and data will be transferred from the current system to a new Y2K compliant one. As a result the staff will be unable to access the computer mainframe during that time, and all system procedures, such as patient registration and patient accounting functions, must be done manually. The public is encouraged to contact the business office prior to Wednesday, July 21 or after Sunday, July 25 with any questions related to patient accounts.

Considerable planning has been done to help ensure that the Hospital moves smoothly into the year 2000. "By the end of July, the Hospital’s medical equipment will be 100% compliant for Y2K. The installation this month of a new patient monitoring system in the Critical Care Unit will complete our work on medical equipment," notes Dan Miller, Clinical Engineer. The manufacturers of all equipment currently being used have been contacted and responded in writing about the compliance of their products; items that were not compliant have been replaced or upgraded to be so. Miller points out that because there is a mix of several brands of the same items used in many instances, substitutions can be made if one manufacturer has misinformed its customers.

The elevators, emergency generators and most air handlers are not digital, so they will not be affected by the calendar change. A major step towards making the financial and health records systems compliant will take place with the mid-July switch to compliant software for the mainframe computer.

As added insurance, a contingency plan has been created to ensure the continuation of Hospital services through the first days of the new millennium. It calls for selected personnel to be on site at midnight on December 31 to manually perform tasks should there be a need; extra personnel will also be on call. Local utility companies have informed the Hospital that they expect no disruption of their services, however back up plans have been developed in case problems should disrupt these major services.

Hospitals are accustomed to planning for emergencies to assure patients receive timely, effective care. And in much the same way, the Chester River Hospital Center is preparing for potential Y2K problems in the new century.

-BACK-