17 blood drives in New York, including 7 on Long Island, canceled due to cyberattack

The New York Blood Center has canceled 17 planned blood drives, including on Long Island, in New York City and in Westchester, after a ransomware attack, the nonprofit reported Friday.

Parent organization New York Blood Center Enterprises said its systems were attacked Sunday, when officials noticed suspicious activity affecting their technical systems. Cybersecurity experts contacted identified the ransomware, according to a statement on its website earlier this week. 

Officials notified law enforcement and were working to contain the threat, but did not have an estimate for when their systems would be back online.

The organization said it was still supplying hospital systems with blood and accepting blood donations at regular donor centers by working around the cyberattack. But processing at donor centers and community blood drives may take longer and some drives might have to be rescheduled, it said.

On Long Island, New York Blood Center canceled blood drives Friday and Sunday at the AHRC Suffolk Chapter in Bohemia and the Bohemia Fire Department; Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church in West Islip; Riverhead Ciderhouse; Scott’s Pointe in Calverton; St. Edward the Confessor Church in Syosset and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in West Babylon.

A blood drive Saturday hosted by the blood center and Suffolk County police is still going forward at the Commack Fire Department in honor of fallen Officer Glen Ciano, police said.

The blood drive is planned from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the firehouse at 6309 Jericho Tpke.

Ciano was killed by a drunken driver while responding to a call Feb. 22, 2009, in Commack. His family has honored his memory, marking 15 years that they’ve hosted the blood drive with police.

Stony Brook University Hospital released a statement Friday saying their blood donor center "is open and operating under regular schedules with no disruption."

The hospital is hosting a blood drive for the next week in honor of Officer Brendon Gallagher. The officer was released from the hospital this week after he was critically injured in a Jan. 5 crash while attempting to pull over a street racing suspect on the Long Island Expressway. During the pursuit, the suspected driver of a Ford Mustang struck his patrol car, flipping it into a tree.

Gallagher slashed his aorta in the crash, suffering a near-fatal loss of blood, Newsday previously reported. Suffolk police said he received lifesaving blood donations while hospitalized and the blood drive was needed to fill a blood shortage in Suffolk County and help others at the hospital.

Meanwhile, New York Blood Center has received 6,500 fewer donations overall in recent weeks since the holidays and has reached a critically low supply of Type O and B blood. The blood center reported supplies for those blood types are down to levels of between 1-3 days.

"The months following the holiday season are always a difficult time for the blood supply, with an increase in seasonal illness and inclement winter weather impacting donations," according to a statement by Andrea Cefarelli, senior vice president at New York Blood Center. "The drop in donations serves as a critical reminder of the fragility of our nation’s blood supply. We’re urging all eligible New Yorkers to start the new year by saving lives."

With Lisa Colangelo and Michael O'Keeffe

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.