Following a hacker attack on private Ameos clinics: Patient numbers at the municipal Harz Clinic in the Harz district remain elevated.
22.07.2025 13:38
Following the cyberattack on the IT systems of the private Ameos clinics, including those in the Harz district, the Harzklinikum Dorothea Christiane Erxleben GmbH (Harzklinikum) continues to experience an increased number of patients in its emergency rooms. However, the situation at the two clinic locations in Quedlinburg and Wernigerod has now eased considerably.
The Harz Clinic, with approximately 2,400 employees and 280 doctors – about 37 percent of whom (around 100 doctors) are from abroad – is one of the largest municipal hospitals in Saxony-Anhalt. Its staff treats approximately 100,000 patients annually, including about 32,000 inpatients and the remainder outpatients from the entire Harz region and adjacent areas in southeastern Lower Saxony, such as Goslar and northern Thuringia.
On Tuesday (July 16, 2025), MDR reporter Max Hensch visited the Harz Clinic in Quedlinburg and spoke with Harz Clinic Managing Director Dr. Matthias Voth and the Head of Nursing for the Emergency Department, Christian Hirsch. At the time, MDR reported that the number of emergency patients at the Ameos clinics was temporarily up to 40 percent higher than normal due to the restrictions, and that the clinic staff was under considerable strain.
As of 2 p.m. on July 18, 2025, the situation has stabilized considerably. Internally, the Harz Clinic is currently anticipating an average increase in patient volume of approximately 10 to 15 percent. The Harz Clinic's management has been informed that the Ameos clinics have largely restored their IT systems. However, limitations still exist in two particularly resource-intensive and medically demanding areas of emergency care:
The treatment of life-threatening multiple injuries (polytrauma) and the care of strokes (apoplexy).
The Harz Clinic anticipates a further improvement in the situation by the coming weekend. At the same time, the clinic has applied to the state of Saxony-Anhalt for an expansion of its emergency room to be even better prepared for such high-pressure situations in the future.