DeKalb County health systems recover after IT Disruption delays payroll

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - DeKalb County health officials say systems are mostly back online after an IT disruption.

The issue delayed payroll processing for more than 350 employees with the county’s Department of Public Health.

What they're saying:

The issues began earlier this week when a power supply failure knocked out critical infrastructure during HVAC work on a new tuberculosis center at the department’s administrative building. "It's been frantic to say the least," said Bjay Wylde, the department’s Chief Operating Officer.

Wylde said the outage shut down phones, internet access, and key internal systems. "We weren't able to make phone calls. We weren't able to access the internet. We weren't even able to access payroll which was scheduled to run Wednesday," he said.

A letter was sent to employees on Monday alerting them to the problem and assuring them the delay had nothing to do with federal funding cuts.

Though frustrated and unsure of when they would receive their pay, employees continued reporting to work. Wylde emphasized that patient care was not disrupted.

"Even during this time period we were still open and seeing patients. We are seeing patients walking in as we speak and that's the most important thing. We were still able to see patients during this time," he said.

What's next:

As operations return to normal, Wylde said the department will be reviewing the breakdown and response.

"We will be doing a full review of our systems and processes and so forth. Basically a hotwash and determine what we can do differently or better for the next time," he said.

Phones are now ringing again, internet is operational, and payroll is being processed—though slightly behind schedule. Officials say a few systems still need attention but expect a full recovery soon.