Windsor hospital warns of payroll errors, but says staff will be paid, amid cyberattack
Staff also encouraged to sign up for credit monitoring and identity theft protection
Windsor Regional Hospital is manually processing pay for thousands of staff — and is warning employees of potential errors — as the hospital grapples with the wide-ranging impact of a ransomware attack that hit five southwestern Ontario hospitals more than a week ago.
A memo to staff, seen by CBC News, explains that the hospital's payroll system is one of the systems frozen by the cyber attack, offering further insight into the internal issues facing the the hospital in addition to cancelled treatments and delayed appointments impacting patient care.
In a second memo, dated a day earlier, the hospital confirms that employee personal and professional information is among the data affected by the ransomware attack.
Ransomware attacks involve hackers threatening to publish sensitive data or block access to it unless a ransom is paid.
"Minor pay errors discovered on the November 2 pay will be corrected as soon as possible once full payroll system functionality is restored and stable," one memo stated.
On Tuesday, TransForm, the hospitals' IT service provider, confirmed its network had fallen prey to a ransomware attack.
Interpol, FBI and OPP are among the law enforcement agencies now assisting with the investigation.
The affected hospitals — Windsor Regional Hospital, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Bluewater Health and Chatham-Kent Health Alliance — have had to reschedule and postpone surgeries and appointments.
Radiation treatments for cancer patients at WRH are also being transferred to other hospitals.
The Ontario Ministry of Health spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday — just the ministry's second statement since the start of the cyber attack 10 days ago — that it was aware of the "ongoing OPP investigation into this incident and TransForm SSO's own investigation."
"The results of these investigations will inform the Ministry's next steps," said Hannah Jensen, press secretary for Minister of Health Sylvia Jones.
Jensen said that hospitals are responsible for their own day-to-day operations as independent corporations.
"In general, when these events occur, the regional Ontario Health branch provides best practice cyber guidance and support to affected sites and undertakes continual monitoring of the incident to identify emerging threats to the rest of the health system," Jensen said.
LISTEN | Ransomware attack at five Ontario hospitals discussed on Windsor Morning:
The second memo encouraged staff to sign up for credit monitoring and identity theft protection, saying that while they would contact staff whose information was affected, the investigation by cybersecurity experts would take time to complete.
"We strongly encourage each of you to take advantage of this offering," it said.
"You do not have to pay for it, and it can be instrumental in identifying any potentially fraudulent activity."
CBC News contacted the other four hospitals part of the cyberattack for comment on any payroll impacts. Erie Shores HealthCare, Bluewater Health and Chatham-Kent Health Alliance did not return requests for comment, while a Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare spokesperson declined to comment on payroll.