Global system IT outage forces closure of Tucson health clinics, urgent cares

The global system IT outage that crippled airlines, businesses, banks and more forced the closure of Banner Health clinics, urgent cares, imaging and other outpatient facilities in Tucson Friday, while disrupting a number of other services.

Banner Health said on its website Friday that its hospitals were open for in-patient care and medical emergencies but other services were unavailable.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to reopen and reschedule appointments at these locations as soon as possible,” the statement said.

Tucson Medical Center, meanwhile, said it had not been affected; all procedures were scheduled as normal and all services were available.

Carondelet and Northwest Healthcare operations did not respond to questions about whether services were impacted.

At Tucson International Airport, several departing and incoming flights were listed as delayed Friday morning.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department reported that the outage disrupted its system overnight, but everything was functioning normally Friday morning and it was still able to provide emergency services.

“No law enforcement data was compromised or released,” a Sheriff’s Department news release said.

The Tucson Police Department was affected by the outage, as well, but said it did not affect their ability to respond to calls for service.

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Early voting took a hit in Pima County as community members had to use provisional ballots at early voting sites, the Recorder’s Office said.

Staff will research each voter’s record to ensure they were eligible to vote before processing their ballots, a news release said.

“We have plans in place for events like this,” said Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly.

Delays were reported at the ports of entry along the northern and southern borders, according to U.S. Rep Ruben Gallego, who sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Friday.

While Gallego noted that backup systems allowed the ports to remain open, he expressed concern about vulnerabilities that could arise.

The global technology outage was caused by a faulty software update, the Associated Press reported.

The trouble with the update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike affected customers running Microsoft Windows, the AP said. It was not the result of hacking or a cyberattack, according to CrowdStrike.