UT Health East Texas Tyler Hospital is pictured. (Tyler Morning Telegraph File)

UT Health East Texas announced on Thursday morning that it has restored access to its patient portal, MyChart.

Beginning Thursday, patients can use MyChart to schedule or reschedule appointments, message providers, view medications and request prescription refills, access e-check in, view test results and visit summaries, and pay bills.

“It is important to note that MyChart users will be prompted to reset their passwords. Additionally, a small subset of MyChart features remain temporarily unavailable as a result of the recent downtime, including video visits and access to financial statements via MyChart,” UT Health said in a statement. “We are working diligently to restore these features and other systems as quickly as possible following the cybersecurity incident.”

The hospital experienced a ransomware attack Nov. 23 that caused a network outage. The attack impacted the system’s parent company Ardent Health Services and its affiliated entities.

According to the statement from Ardent, the cybersecurity incident caused the Ardent technology team to proactively take its network offline, suspending all user access to its information technology applications, including corporate servers, Epic software, internet and clinical programs. The UT Health East Texas emergency room was placed on divert status during that time. 

“We sincerely regret any inconvenience this incident has caused and encourage patients who have questions about their care or other clinical matters to contact their provider through MyChart or by phone,” UT Health said Thursday.

Ardent said on Dec. 19 that all locations using its software had resumed all non-emergent surgeries that were temporarily paused while systems were brought back online. 

“Our investigation into this incident is thorough, ongoing, and will take time to complete. If it is determined that any individuals’ protected health or personally identifiable information is involved, we will notify them in accordance with applicable law,” Ardent said. 

Additional updates can be found at ardenthealth.com/cybersecurityincident.