Hospital ER reopens after cybersecurity incident

KEMPTVILLE, Ont. – The Kemptville hospital has reopened its emergency department, with the help of other local hospitals, as an investigation continues into a “cybersecurity incident” that caused a hospital-wide IT shutdown.

Although IT issues remain and the hospital continues to operate under a “Code Grey”, collaboration with local hospital partners has enabled the resumption of Emergency Department services.

“We are grateful to our hospital partners for their eagerness to be part of this solution,” KDH CEO Frank Vassallo (pictured) said in the release. “It enables us to fulfill our mandate of providing emergency care to residents of North Grenville and beyond.”

The hospital shut the emergency department last Thursday in the wake of the incident.

In addition to the emergency department closure, outpatient x-rays and ultrasounds were also put on hold. Day surgeries and total joint replacement surgeries continue as normal, although with possible delays as this is being done manually rather than in the computer system

KDH said last week that cybersecurity experts were working to contain the incident and diagnostics were being run to evaluate the full scope of the problem.

The incident was reported to the OPP Cyber Crime Unit, which visited the hospital October 20 to conduct an assessment, KDH said.

Investigation of the incident continues and KDH remains committed to communicating as much information as possible as the situation evolves.