Patient, employee data taken in ransomware attack of 5 Ontario hospitals could be published

The IT systems provider for five southwestern Ontario hospitals says patient and staff data have been taken and could be published in an ongoing ransomware attack.

TransForm said it continues to investigate the exact impacted data and that those affected by the cyberattack will be notified.

“We continue to work around the clock to restore systems, and we expect to have updates related to the restoration of our systems in the upcoming week,” the IT service provider said in a statement.

It has been four days since the last official update on the cyberattacks that forced computer systems offline at several southwestern Ontario hospitals. The outage itself has now persisted for eight days.

Affected hospitals have had to reschedule and postpone surgeries and appointments.

The hospitals include:

• Windsor Regional Hospital.
• Erie Shores HealthCare.
• Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
• Bluewater Health.
• Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.

TransForm is a non-profit founded by the hospitals to run IT, supply chain and accounts, according to the organization’s website. 

“We are working closely with law enforcement — including local police departments, Ontario Provincial Police, Interpol and FBI — and we have notified all relevant regulatory organizations including the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner.”

Andrew Dowie, Conservative MPP for Windsor—Tecumseh, said TransForm continues to work on this, with the help of outside experts.

“Restoring the systems back to where they need to be to offer the appointments and procedures, that is the priority for Transform, for the hospitals, and ultimately any way that the province can support them, certainly I want to share that those efforts are being made,” said Dowie.

The statement from TransForm said the hospitals will continue to do their best to contact patients directly in advance if they have a scheduled appointment with one of the hospitals that needs to be rescheduled. 

If patients do not need emergency care, they are asked to visit their primary care provider or a local clinic.

“We understand the impact this incident is having on members of our community, including patients and our employees and professional staff, and deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.”