Hospitals in Chatham-Kent, Windsor, and Sarnia-Lambton dealing with a cyber attack say work continues to restore their systems and police and experts are now involved in the criminal investigation.
In a joint statement on Friday, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, Windsor Regional Hospital, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, and Bluewater Health, along with TransForm Shared Service Organization, their shared service provider, said they continue to "work around the clock" to restore systems following a cybersecurity hack earlier this week.
The hospital groups said they are still working to contact patients directly if they have an appointment that needs to be rescheduled.
"The hospitals will continue to do their best to contact patients directly in advance if they have a scheduled appointment with one of our hospitals that needs to be rescheduled. If you are not needing emergency care, we ask that you please attend your primary care provider or local clinic," hospital officials said. "We understand the impact this incident is having on members of our community, including patients and our employees and professional staff, and deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. We want to thank everyone for their patience during this time."
The hospital groups said cybersecurity experts are now engaged as the investigation continues.
Police have also been notified and the cyber attack is now part of a criminal investigation.
"We expect to have updates related to the restoration of our systems in the upcoming week," the joint statement read.
The hospitals are experiencing difficulties with their computer systems and email after TransForm suffered a cyber attack.