Toronto hospital under Code Grey following data security incident

Michael Garron Hospital says it is actively investigating a “data security incident” which it was made aware of earlier this week.

“We are actively investigating and assessing the impact of the incident with the support of third-party experts,” the hospital said in a statement.

The statement did not say exactly what occurred, but it did say that there are “no known impacts” to clinical applications or patient care services at the moment.

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The hospital said it has initiated a Code Grey – a term which generally is used when there is a loss of key infrastructure at a hospital – in order to “facilitate the coordination of resources and business continuity.”

“Out of an abundance of caution, our teams are in the process of planning and implementing additional proactive measures to safeguard our data and information systems while the investigation is underway,” the statement said.

The hospital said it will provide more information as it becomes available.

While it’s yet clear exactly what happened at Michael Garron Hospital, health care facilities have increasingly been the target of cyberattacks.

The Scarborough Health Network was the victim of a data security breach last year. Then in December Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) was the subject of a ransomware attack which delayed imaging results and resulted in longer wait times for patients. Humber River Hospital was also the subject of a ransomware attack in 2021.