ST. JOHN’S, NL – Newfoundland and Labrador Health Minister John Haggie was unable to confirm media reports that a ransomware attack destroyed the province’s electronic health care system, but has said the system vendor claimed it was the result of third-party infiltration.
Eastern Health and the other three health authorities in the province first noticed a service disruption on Saturday. Computers are currently unable to communicate with each other, and staff are unable to send or receive e-mail.
“At the moment, all we know for sure is that this is a possible cyber attack and that its nature and extent are under investigation,” Haggie told reporters at the time. of a morning press conference.
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He added that he didn’t expect good news anytime soon.
“It will take longer than I or someone else wants, but at the end of the day we’ll come out on the other side,” he said.
Eastern Health chief executive David Diamond said he believed thousands of medical appointments had already been canceled.
The inability to notify or register patients electronically, or access medical imaging online, is preventing them from moving forward, he said.
“We went into emergency mode,” said Diamond. “We always have contingency plans for this type of situation. We hoped we would never have to use it.
Eastern Health is the hardest hit so far, Haggie said. As of Monday, authorities in Western and Labrador-Grenfell have been operating almost normally.
Emergency services, COVID tests not affected
Emergency services are not affected, Diamond said.
In addition, dialysis, community services, and mental health and addictions services continue.
COVID-19 vaccines and testing are also continuing, although reliance on a paper-based system will cause delays.
Diamond said health officials have already faced delays over the past two years, and the current issues are no different.
“Unfortunately, with COVID and Snowmageddon, we already have a lot of experience with this type of backlog,” he said, referring to the January 2020 snowfall that shut down the St. John’s area for a while. week.
He said the authority would likely add evening and weekend appointments to make up for lost time, and some appointments would be prioritized as usual.
Diamond said patients who have appointments or surgeries scheduled for the next few days should call one of the designated numbers to confirm their status. He said additional staff had been assigned to respond to the expected high call volumes.
- For Eastern Health: 1-833-777-1276
- For central health: 1-844-651-6214
Western Health and Labrador-Grenfell regions are less affected, although some routine laboratory and diagnostic work is canceled, as well as chemotherapy appointments.
Still investigating
Haggie said the Newfoundland and Labrador Health Information Center (NLCHI) and service provider Bell Aliant were working to pin down the problem, which he described as attacking the “brain” of the patient. system.
He could not say if any information was lost or compromised, but added that the province’s privacy commissioner had been made aware.
Insurers have also been contacted.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s healthcare system has been hit by a ransomware attack. It is time for our government leaders to fight back hard against these scoundrels. Or are we helpless?
– Bruce James Royce (@sunnysidechap) November 1, 2021
Ransomware attacks hit major utilities and transportation systems in the United States earlier this year. The Irish healthcare system is still recovering after being hit by a major ransomware attack in May.
Canada is not immune either.
Ottawa issued a warning in March to companies providing services to domestic and international clients. According to IT Business, FortisOntario, a subsidiary of Fortis Inc. that supplies electricity to several Ontario customers, reported a ransomware attack the same month.
A survey by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) found that more than two-thirds of Canadian businesses chose to pay hackers for ransomware attacks, although the same percentage also endorsed the idea of legislation prohibiting their payment.
Haggie said it was too early to discern the nature of the current attack and that he did not know what the government’s policies regarding ransomware would be.
If it was a ransomware attack friend, you picked the wrong province, we’re BROKEN
– John Nick Jeddore (@JohnJeddore) November 1, 2021
Peter Jackson is a reporter for the Local Journalism Initiative covering health for the SaltWire Network.
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Twitter: @pjackson_nl
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