I agree with you mostly because doctors were evidently capable of running their departments way back when on paper and pencil alone. But I also think it's possi

I agree with you mostly because doctors were evidently capable of running their departments way back when on paper and pencil alone. But I also think it's possible that there's a well-intentioned regulation somewhere that says that a hospital is legally required to turn away patients when their systems are down. E.g., it could be a regulation for establishing a minimum standard of care and having the systems up and running is defined to be part of that minimum standard. I don't know anything about this case though.