25-03-2025
MultiCare's MyChart, other systems were out of commission Monday. Here's what happened
Tacoma-based MultiCare health system's operations are back to normal following a network outage.
MultiCare media representative Scott Thompson, in response to questions from The News Tribune, said via email that all systems 'were back up and running' as of 7:30 p.m. Monday evening.
The initial incident occurred in the early-morning hours Monday.
Thompson explained that the issue 'stemmed from rain that filled a power vault at the Mary Bridge hospital construction site. A conduit allowed water to collect in one of our data centers, which shorted out an electrical switch and left hardware at risk due to the water.'
A new Mary Bridge Children's Hospital is under construction. The new hospital will include a new inpatient hospital tower, ambulatory building with specialty clinics and urgent-care services, and new parking structures. The site has a projected completion date of early next year, according to the project's online site.
Monday's outage reportedly affected the health system's electronic health records (MyChart) and other online networks.
'The computer hardware was tended to and the switch replaced,' Thompson added, with services restored by Monday evening.
In February, a separate electrical mishap affected MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital and Mary Bridge Children's Hospital for several days. In that instance, they were reduced to generator power after a water leak in a piece of medical equipment at Tacoma General short-circuited an electrical switch feeding Phillips Pavilion at the hospital, 315 MLK Jr. Way. Repairs were further delayed by a small fire that later broke out in an electrical vault.
Full power was restored a few days later.
Previous reporting by The News Tribune contributed to this report.
