Area hospitals under cyber attack, computer systems down

The Erie St. Clair region hospitals — which includes Erie Shores HealthCare, Chatham- Kent Health Alliance, Bluewater Health, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital (Met and Ouellette campuses) — have fallen victim to a cyber attack affecting their computer systems, including emails.

A collective statement on the Erie Shores HealthCare website states:

“Bluewater Health, Chatham Kent Health Alliance, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel Dieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital (the “Hospitals”) are providing an update on the technical issues we are experiencing. A shared service provider used by all our hospitals is experiencing a cyberattack. Unfortunately, this incident is impacting our provision of care in various ways.”  

“For those patients who have care scheduled in the next few days, we will contact you directly, if possible, to reschedule or provide alternate arrangements. Unfortunately, we may not be able to reach all patients, and we request your understanding if we are required to reschedule care in person at our facilities.”

“Also, we would continue to ask if you are not needing emergency care to attend your primary care provider or local clinic to reduce the impact upon the hospitals as we work towards addressing these issues and focus on those needing hospital care.”

“We are investigating the cause and scope of the incident, including whether any patient information was affected. Our investigation is ongoing and we will provide further updates, as appropriate. We will not be providing further comment in response to this statement.”

An update from the  hospitals was expected to be released Tuesday afternoon, after press time.

Check the hospital’s website and social media regularly for any updates.