Special Message from Dr. Jeff Balser and Dr. Wright Pinson about the downtown Nashville bombing
Dec. 27, 2020
Colleagues,
As you are aware from extensive news coverage, Nashville experienced a tragic bombing on Dec. 25 resulting in damage to multiple buildings downtown.
The building that was the apparent target of the attack houses AT&T communications infrastructure. As a result, much of our region has been without AT&T services. At the present time we are beginning to see restoration of wireless services.
We began to experience issues with landline phone services soon after the explosion. In response, teams rapidly developed workarounds using alternative wireless services that facilitated patient care communications. Within hours we were reporting no serious communications challenges related to care delivery. Our health records access and infrastructure for inpatient care were not affected.
There are no reported issues limiting the ability to place internal 5-digit calls. However, VUMC’s landline telephone services -- particularly the ability to receive calls from numbers outside our system -- continue to be impacted. We are in contact with AT&T about the status of the repair efforts and we are now receiving calls that originate from AT&T customers, but given the extensive nature of the damage, service from other carriers is being returned in stages. We expect to see full restoration of other carriers soon, and our IT teams have added new lines for reaching some of the more heavily utilized access points that connect the public to Vanderbilt Health services.
The following numbers have been established for use as alternatives to the normal access numbers when necessary:
- Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt: 615-421-9981
- Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital: 615-421-9999
These numbers appear on banners on our patient-facing websites and have been shared with area news media so that they can post to their websites.
On Monday, outpatient clinic operations will resume. A thorough assessment of current capabilities indicate that internal access to data (patient records, eStar, Outlook email, etc.) at the 21st Ave. and One Hundred Oaks campuses is fully functional. We believe that our other facilities throughout the region will have data access but may vary in terms of the availability of telephone services. Verizon “hot spot” support for internet communications needs will be available for off-campus locations dependent on AT&T internet that are still without service.
For patients wishing to make appointments, we continue to work with AT&T to restore landline access to our Green Hills Access Center, including voicemail capabilities. This afternoon we began to experience service from AT&T and other wireless service customers. While we expect full service with all carriers to be established soon, should we experience significant gaps in service on Monday morning we will provide alternative access numbers.
All employees who are scheduled to report to a VUMC location tomorrow for work should report as scheduled.
We want to express our appreciation for the teamwork that has gone into maintaining operations so that world-class care for our patients can remain uninterrupted.
Sincerely,
Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer, VUMC and Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, VUMC and Chief Health System Officer