Cyberattack disrupts care at University of New Mexico Health

A cyberattack forced the University of New Mexico Health System to divert ambulance traffic and cancel clinics across more than 30 sites, disrupting care at the state’s only Level I trauma centre. DysruptionHub reports that emergency callers were advised to use emergency services for true emergencies while non-emergency appointments were postponed “until further notice” after systems were shut down.

The incident affected UNM Health Hospitals and Clinics in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, with the health system directing patients to avoid in-person visits for non-urgent care.

Evidence cited by the reporting outlets indicates that an internal alert described a network security breach and instructed staff to shut down and unplug desktop computers and disconnect mobile devices from hospital Wi‑Fi. The Register later stated that classes across the medicine, nursing, and pharmacy faculties were cancelled for a second day as recovery efforts continued, and that nonessential UNM Health Sciences Center staff were asked to remain at home during the incident.

By the time of the update, hospital appointments and clinics were returning to normal, though the public advisory and operational impact highlighted a significant disruption to patient services and ambulance routing. The reporting attributes these facts to DysruptionHub, Source New Mexico, and The Register’s coverage of UNM Health’s cybersecurity event.