CrowdStrike outage disrupts services at Ohio BMV, Franklin County municipal court

The global cyber outage causing tech chaos Friday is impacting Columbus-area hospitals and government institutions.

The global tech outage has disrupted operations at major airlines, banks, hospitals and other institutions around the world, The Dispatch previously reported . The outage appeared to be linked to an issue at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike . The firm is used by over half of Fortune 500 companies, according to a promotional video it posted this year.

More: 'Stranded' Columbus airport travelers search for new flights as CrowdStrike outage causes chaos

Here's what's impacted locally and statewide:

Hospitals impacted by outages, but appointments continue

Nationwide Children’s Hospital has experienced technology issues from the global outages, a spokesperson said. Patient care will continue, and Nationwide Children's has backup procedures in place.

"The hospital is continuing to monitor the situation and will continuously make adjustments to processes as needed," the statement said. "Patient care and safety remain the top priority."

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is experiencing some technology issues due to the outage, according to spokesperson Marti Leitch. The hospital has backup procedures in place and is implementing vendor repairs.

All facilities remain open, and Wexner patients should expect that their appointments will go forward as planned unless patients are contacted by the hospital.

OhioHealth spokesperson Colin Yoder said the OhioHealth hospital system has been minimally impacted by the outages. The OhioHealth Southeastern Medical Center in Cambridge was impacted but services have been restored.

"The ability for remote radiology reading has been impacted but is not impacting patient care," Yoder said. "All surgeries, procedures and appointments are proceeding as scheduled.”

A statement from Mount Carmel Health systems said their parent company, Trinity Health, was made aware of some issues with workstations and applications running CrowdStrike.

"As soon as the issue was identified, updates were halted and standard protocols to restore service and communicate with colleagues were implemented. We expect a quick resolution to any issues across our health care system," the statement said.

Columbus, Franklin County 911 working as expected

Emergency services in the city of Columbus are working as expected, according to Glenn McEntyre, Department of Public Safety spokesperson, said. Residents calling either the 911 emergency line or nonemergency line will not experience problems, and all public-facing services for first responders are working, McEntyre said.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook that the county 911 communication center is fully operational, and dispatchers are able to respond to emergency calls without interruption.

However, due to the IT outage, the FCSO are temporarily using to pen-and-paper methods for taking reports, which may cause some delays. The office's computer system is currently experiencing slowdowns, but the FCSO is doing everything possible to maintain a level of service, it said on Facebook.

Municipal Court closing early

The Franklin County Municipal Court closed at 12:30 p.m. Friday because of technical issues. The court was doing all arraignments in person on Friday instead of virtually because of technology issues. In-custody arraignments for Saturday will be in person.

The Franklin County Court of Common Pleas has also reported some technical issues.

The Franklin County Municipal Court Clerk of Court’s Office has not been impacted and will continue to remain open, a spokesperson said. The court's criminal division and accounting are open around the clock and will be processing new arrests and accepting bond payments.

Columbus 311 disrupted

Callers to the city of Columbus' 311 24-hour customer service center were being told Friday afternoon that at least two city computer systems were down, and there was no ETA on recovery. City Director of Technology Sam Orth was tied up trying to recover the systems and wasn't available to give an update, his office said.

Ohio State University experiencing effects of outage

According to OSU spokesperson Ben Johnson, the university has been impacted but "IT systems that support critical services such as Public Safety and the Wexner Medical Center are being prioritized." Johnson said the university appreciates the public's patience.

"Some users may continue to experience ripple effects from the global outage," Johnson said in a statement. "IT teams across campus are working to restore services as quickly as possible."

State agencies impacted

According to a Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services spokesperson, the global Crowdstrike issue is disrupting some ODJFS services and operations.

If residents are having issues accessing ODJFS services, the department is asking residents please try again later.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles reported on X that some BMV and Title services may not be available due to the outage.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio reported on X that the the global CrowdStrike issue is disrupting some PUCO services and operations, including the Docketing Information System and call center.

The Ohio Department of Education could not be reached via phone due to calls not going through and the website appears to be down.

Huntington Bank not affected, Nationwide facing outages

Services at Huntington Bank were not disrupted by the outage, a spokesperson told The Dispatch.'

Nationwide Insurance said while it affected by the outages, all customer data and information is safe.

"Some business transactions may be affected," a Nationwide spokesperson said. "Additionally, customers’, partners’ and suppliers’ systems may also be impacted by this issue."

Columbus Zoo open, art museum offering free admission

While the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is open and welcoming guests Friday, some phone lines may be down until the issue is resolved.

The Columbus Museum of Art said Friday that because the ticketing service was down due to the outage, it was offering free admission until the museum closes at 5 p.m.

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

@Colebehr_report

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: CrowdStrike outage disrupts services at Ohio BMV, Franklin County municipal court