Bluewater Health, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital, and their shared service provider TransForm Shared Service Organization released a statement on Thursday related to the ransomware attack that impacted operations as well as certain patient, employee and professional staff data.

They confirm that data connected to the cyber incident has been published and they are currently working with leading cybersecurity experts to determine the exact data that has been impacted. Individuals whose data was affected by this cyberattack will be promptly notified.

The investigation is a joint operation involving local police departments, Ontario Provincial Police, INTERPOL and FBI.  Regulatory organizations such as the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner have been informed of the attack.

A decision has been made to not yield to the attacker’s ransom demands. This decision is aligned with the governments of 50 nations, including Canada, who have recently pledged to never pay ransom to cybercriminals.

The hospitals continue to do their best to contact patients directly in advance if they have a scheduled appointment that needs to be rescheduled. If patients do not need emergency care, they are asked to visit their primary care provider or local clinic.  The hospitals apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused to their patients, employees, professional staff and other members of the community.

While the incident is now a criminal investigation and they are limited in information that can be shared, an update on the restoration of hospital systems will be provided to the public in the coming days.