Patient care continues to be impacted at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance following a cyberattack affecting five hospitals in the region, including CKHA.
The CEOs of the affected organizations in Chatham-Kent, Sarnia, Leamington, and Windsor held a joint news conference this morning, speaking publicly for the first time following the October 23rd ransomware attack.
Lori Marshall, CKHA President and CEO says one of the biggest impacts has been limited ability to provide stroke care.
“Patients experiencing stroke symptoms in the community are being transported to London Health Sciences Centre or Windsor Regional Hospital via our local EMS for emergent stroke care.”
Marshall says surgeries and non-urgent procedures that had been cancelled are being rescheduled, the hospital is returning to normal volumes, and some patients have been sent outside of Chatham-Kent for care.
“We’ve continued to provide outpatient and ambulatory care, although at this stage, because we are a satellite clinic of London’s oncology program, we are deferring new chemotherapy patients until our critical systems are back up,” Marshall says.
Marshall says about 10 cancer patients are affected by the shift, and she hopes to have them transitioned from London back to CKHA as soon as possible.
In the meantime, an international investigation into the ransomware attack continues and restoration efforts are underway to ensure all digital information at the five affected hospitals is backed up and placed behind a new, secure firewall.
More to come.
