A hospital in East York is working “24/7” to restore its information technology (IT) systems after being hit with a malware attack last month.
On Sept. 25, Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) said it received a call from IT staff that a virus, later identified as Ryuk, had entered into the hospital’s servers and was affecting both clinical and administrative applications within the hospital’s computer systems.
“While we continue to assess the full extent of the issue, we know the virus started on an MGH computer,” the hospital’s president and CEO, Sarah Downey, said in a news release.
“While this virus has been described as a type of ‘ransomware,’ we have not been in contact with anyone about payment, and our teams – and only our teams – are in control of our systems and data.”
As a result, the hospital said that clinical teams were forced to use paper processes and the telephone to call codes, access porters and check dietary orders.
According to the hospital, extra staff has been brought in, as well as volunteers to meet with clinical leaders and physicians within the MGH network to “re-assess and provide updates” on all units.
The hospital confirms that while under Code Grey, no patient or staff privacy has been compromised.
