Ctrl+Alt+Disaster: How Oracle Techies’ “Error Click” made nearly 50 hospitals bent their knees for 5 days

A software failure triggered by Oracle engineers led to a five-day blackout last week at multiple community health system (CHS) hospitals, forcing multiple facilities to turn to paper records after losing access to digital systems. The interference began on April 23, when Oracle personnel mistakenly deleted the storage space linked to the core patient database during scheduled maintenance.According to a CHS spokesperson, the power outage is not caused by a cyber attack or data breach, but a human error during the system maintenance process. As its electronic health record (EHR) system offline, affected hospitals activated the emergency “download procedure”.
“Although this is a major power outage, our hospitals have no significant impact on maintaining services,” a CHS spokesperson told CNBC. “We are proud of our clinical and support teams, whose commitment to providing high-quality, safe care to patients.”

The degree of impact

A commentary report from the trade publication Becker Hospital said 45 of the 72 hospitals in CHS were affected. Operating in 14 states, CHS is one of the largest public health systems in the United States. Its hospitals rely on Oracle Health’s EHR platform to manage patient history, dating and clinical workflows.

The EHR system is widely used in the United States medical facilities and plays a crucial role in coordinating patient care. When digital access is lost, healthcare professionals have to resort to manual processes – a time-consuming solution that brings the risk of delays and errors.

Oracle restores the system after data reconstruction

Oracle completed the repair of the affected system earlier this week. The engineer reconstructed the deleted storage and checked it to ensure the integrity of the patient data. CHS confirmed that its facilities are now working to “re-establish full functionality and return to normal operations and procedures.” Oracle did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The tech giant acquired EHR supplier Cerner for $28.3 billion in 2022 and is now the second largest provider of electronic health records after Epic Systems.

Trouble beyond CHS

The event is a series of challenges targeting Oracle’s health department. Just a few weeks ago, the company’s federal EHR platform also experienced a nationwide power outage. Additionally, Veterans Affairs has faced years of problems due to its own Oracle-Run EHR launch.

The project was initially launched under Cerner and later inherited by Oracle, prompting VA to initiate a formal review of security issues in 2021. In 2023, the agency stopped deploying after reporting on patient care disruptions and reliability issues.

A risky transition to digital healthcare

Oracle enters healthcare technology through its Cerner acquisition to strengthen its presence in one of the most sensitive and highly regulated industries. But a series of technical errors from federal platforms to frontline hospitals raise questions about execution and oversight.

Although CHS can continue to serve during outages, the reliance on a single digital system in dozens of hospitals magnifies the risk. As health systems increasingly rely on centralized digital infrastructure, the cost of small mistakes, both human and technology, can quickly fall into systemic destruction.

The CHS situation reminds you that even in highly digital fields, redundancy and readiness are still crucial.