O’FALLON, Ill. – For the fourth day in a row, a significant health care provider in Illinois is experiencing a major system outage. It’s a problem for several facilities.

The problem is impacting facilities operated by the ‘Hospital Sisters Health System,’ or HSHS. The group operates multiple facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin, including St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

An online post from HSHS says that a system outage has temporarily taken virtually all operating systems offline. The HSHS posting does not specify which exact systems are impacted, but the Belleville News Democrat reported that the outage involves websites, internet service, telephones, and computer applications.

When checking the main HSHS website, all that came up was a message about the outage. Someone did answer when we called St. Elizabeth’s. However, the person acknowledged that the problems are ongoing, and they are doing what they can to help people.

A message on the HSHS website says officials first became aware of the issue on Sunday and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

HSHS officials shared that they are following existing protocols for outages and that nearly all HSHS hospitals and clinics remain open and are caring for patients. However, the News Democrat explained that patients have reported an inability to access online charts or reach doctors and employees are using alternative email addresses in some cases.

HSHS added that its “I-T team” is trying to restore systems as quickly as possible, but it’s unclear when that might happen. 

Hshs operates 12 facilities in Illinois. Besides there, other HSHS hospitals in the area include St. Josephs in Highland and Breese, Holy Family in Greenville, St. Francis in Litchfield, and St. Anthony’s in Effingham.

The Hospital Sisters Health System in based in Springfield, Illinois.