Paris (AFP)

Ramsay-Générale de Santé, French leader in private hospitalization, suffered since Saturday a computer attack affecting 120 institutions, without consequences for patients or "continuity and security of care," he assured the AFP Wednesday.

"We are suffering a cyberattack by a virus, since Saturday morning, which affects all of the 120 institutions" in France of the original Ramsay group, said a spokeswoman, confirming information from France 3 Regions.

The 20 establishments of the Capio group, acquired by Ramsay, have not been affected, she added.

However "continuity and safety of care is assured, and there are no implications for the patient," according to the spokesperson.

This virus affected "the messaging and other business applications" used by the group in the management of its institutions, blocking its computer system and forcing its employees to "go back to paper, pencil to manage schedules", has it she continued.

"But we are pretty sure that no data was stolen," insisted the spokesman, saying that the group's IT team and several providers, mobilized since Saturday, hope "to restore the computer system at the end of the week".

Confronted for the first time with an attack of this type, the French leader in private hospitalization applies the crisis procedures he had developed.

Born in July 2015 from the merger of Générale de Santé and Ramsay Santé, Ramsay-Générale de Santé is more than 80% owned by the Australian group Ramsay Healthcare and Predica, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Assurances.

It covers the entire chain of care: medicine-surgery-obstetrics, oncology, follow-up care and rehabilitation and home care. It saw its annual profit fall by more than 87% at the end of its 2017/2018 financial year, to 7.3 million euros.

By the end of 2018, he had bought the number three sector, Capio, for nearly 780 million euros.

© 2019 AFP