Hospitals announce 327,000 affected by cyber attack

About 327,000 people were affected by the cyber attack on five regional hospitals in October of 2023.

The totals were announced on Wednesday, April 3 as the five hospitals held a joint news conference, outlining steps that have been taken to combat the cyber attack and progress that is being made to ensure it will never happen again.

Erie Shores HealthCare in Leamington had a total of 102,000 individuals affected by the cyber attack. 

According to the CEO and President of Erie Shores HealthCare, Kristin Kennedy, patients affected will receive a letter in the mail this week outlining the extent of the information stolen and steps being taken to protect them from further breaches.

“I’m here to extend our deepest apologies to our community,” said Kennedy. 

She said that staff had worked tirelessly over the past few months to deal with the attack.

Kennedy indicated that no medical records or financial details were compromised, but included patient names and some addresses, health card numbers, date of birth and generic reasons for their visit. 

At the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, President and CEO Lori Marshall said  approximately 69,000 individuals were affected by the breach, with general information such as names, addresses and appointment dates being the main target.

She said a small number of social insurance numbers were also compromised but no medical records or financial information.

Sarnia’s Bluewater Health was most greatly affected with about 20,000 patients’ social insurance numbers being taken out of the 82,000 total that was compromised and some medical records compromised.

President and Chief Executive Officer at Windsor Regional Hospital, David Musyj, says that about 27,800 people were affected by the breach, with no social insurance numbers, medical records or financial information stolen.

“One patient is clearly too many,” he said. “This is something you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.”

Over at Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare, CEO Bill Marra confirmed about 46,000 people compromised, but stressed that no medical records were breached.

It’s important to note that patients who visited more than one of these hospitals in recent years may receive a letter from each of them, which means there may be some overlap in the above totals.