NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) — A spokesperson for Ortho Rhode Island said patients can once again schedule new appointments after the orthopedic group experienced an extended phone and computer outage last week.

Ortho RI spokesperson Evan Ernst said the cause of the outages is currently under investigation. According to Ernst, the phone outage lasted from Sept. 9 to Sept. 12, and online patient services were restored by the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Target 12 received multiple calls and emails from viewers over the last week saying they could not schedule their appointments. Among them was Marie Noble of North Kingstown.

"I've gotten very frustrated," she said Tuesday afternoon. "I don't know what to do."

Noble got foot surgery in July. She went in to see her doctor last week, where she was told she would need a follow-up appointment to check in on her medication.

"And his girl said, 'Well, I'll have to call you because everything's down. We can't make an appointment,'" Noble said. "So I figured by Friday they'd be able to call."

She said she didn't receive a call on Friday, so she decided to call the office on Monday and then again on Tuesday. She said both times a person on the phone told her she would not be able to book an appointment because the computer system was down.

"The woman on the phone yesterday said that she did see people from IT walking out of the building Saturday, carrying computers," Noble said.

In a statement to Target 12, Ernst wrote, "During [the phone outage] all Ortho Rhode Island locations remained open for existing appointments, walk-in care and any patient requests, including prescription refills."

Because of Noble's surgery, she can only wear flip-flops, so she told Target 12 she hopes she can get an appointment next week.

"At my age, I'm on a lot of medications and I don't like being on any that I perhaps don't need to be on," she said.