Outage cleared at multiple Toronto hospitals after strong winds cause disruptions
An outage at Toronto’s University Health Network has been cleared after stormy weather and strong winds caused appointment and service delays at several hospitals in the city.
The health network posted on social media Wednesday afternoon that they have restored the health information system and several of the other systems are being restored as well. The outage started early Wednesday morning.
Patients might still experience delays with care for the remainder of the day, the network added, due to the backlogs that need to clear.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday that the weather caused the outage and it impacted the entire region.
“I've been assured that they are working actively on it,” Jones said Wednesday morning. “I have all the confidence in the world that it will be resolved quickly.”
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
In a message posted to social media Wednesday, University Health Network (UHN) said the “unexpected” outage impacted service at Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.
“The outage is impacting the UHN website, patient portal and patient record systems,” the hospital network stated on social media. “Some patient appointments and procedures are delayed … A limited number of procedures have been cancelled and will be re-booked by clinic staff.”
Dr. Kathryn Tinckam, UHN physician-in-chief and program medical director, told CP24 on Wednesday afternoon that patients have been contacted directly about any changes to their care.
“Patients with early-to-mid morning appointments, have certainly experienced some delays in their care and in some very few cases, we've had to actually postpone some procedures out of an abundance of caution,” Tinckam said. “The teams are working very hard to reschedule any care that's been delayed or postponed.”
She said that very few cases have been postponed and that most patients should just expect slight delays in their care. She said there has also been delays receiving lab results and imaging results.
“We also want to emphasize that patient safety is paramount, and patient safety has not been affected during this incident,” she stated.
She added that the incident is not cyber related and patient information remains safe.
The UHN’s website is back up and running after several hours of not being operational.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Election deniers: West Virginia voters must pick from GOP candidates who still dispute 2020 election
When West Virginia Republicans vote in Tuesday's primary, they will have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges that U.S. President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
'It was violent': Police tear down U of A pro-Palestinian encampment Saturday morning
Multiple people at the protest camp torn down at the University of Alberta campus Saturday say police's actions against protesters were "violent" and "disproportionate."
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
An apartment block collapses in a Russian border city after heavy shelling, injuring over a dozen
An apartment block partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, leaving at least 19 injured. Officials blamed Ukrainian shelling and said there were also likely deaths.
'Reimagining Mother's Day': Toronto woman creates Motherless Day event after losing mom
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.