Published Jul 20, 2024 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 2 minute read
The southwestern Ontario hospitals hit by the global internet outage have restored most of their clinical systems and said they hope to have non-clinical services back online over the weekend.
“As a region, we continue to make great progress restoring systems following a CrowdStrike global IT outage, which has been confirmed not to be a cyberattack,” the five hospitals and their shared service provider said in a media release.
Advertisement 2
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Windsor Star ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Windsor Star ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.
REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.
Sign In or Create an Account
or
Article content
“The majority of clinical systems have been restored and remaining non-clinical systems will be completed over the weekend. While wait times have been reduced significantly due to these efforts, patients may experience minor delays over the course of the weekend. Hospitals will contact patients directly if there is an impact to appointments or procedures.”
Windsor Regional Hospital, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Bluewater Health, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, and Transform Shared Services Organization were among organizations affected around the globe when a flawed cybersecurity program update took down Microsoft Corp. Systems.
The internet outage caused global disruptions to flights, banks, and hospitals. Issues and delays persisted for hours despite the technology company’s efforts to resolve the problem affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
In Windsor-Essex, there were massive delays at the border and warnings from hospitals of possible procedure cancellations and longer emergency room wait times.
Advertisement 3
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Commuters reported that the wait time at the Windsor-Detroit tunnel was more than an hour. At least one flight at Windsor’s airport was cancelled.
Stressing that the incident was not a cyberattack, Windsor Regional Hospital said in a tweet Friday morning that “patients should expect delays in service and potential appointment cancellations following a Microsoft/CrowdStrike global IT outage.”
Along with a warning about longer than usual ER wait times, Windsor Regional said surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and diagnostic imaging patients would be contacted directly by their respective hospital if the outage affected their appointments or procedures.
Area hospitals issued another update later in the morning that TransForm, their shared IT service provider, was “working diligently on restoration efforts while staff in our hospitals use downtime procedures, including paper charting.”
A later update from the hospitals confirmed that most clinical systems had been restored.
“We thank you for your patience as we complete the restoration of our systems,” the hospitals said.
twilhelm@postmedia.com
Article content
>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Windsor Star – https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/local-hospitals-restore-most-clinical-systems-after-unprecedented-global-internet-outage