BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
Your Data Your Rights
The estimated 69,000 Chatham-Kent Health Alliance patients whose information was compromised in last fall’s criminal cyberattack can expect to receive written notification in the mail later this month.
According to CKHA president and CEO Lori Marshall, the bulk of the stolen data mainly involved names, addresses, diagnosis, treatment and appointment dates, with “very few” Ontario health card numbers compromised.
In an update to the public April 3, Marshall joined four other health-care leaders from across Southwestern Ontario whose hospitals were impacted by the attack. In conjunction with Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner and the TransForm Shared Service Organization, officials said a review into the Oct. 23 attack that affected some 326,800 patients is now complete.
Patients who accessed services at more than one hospital should be aware they may receive more than one letter, Marshall told reporters.
Notices will start going out April 8, she added, pinpointing the information that was impacted, as well as a hospital contact number patients can call.
Marshall apologized for the “inconvenience and anxiety” the data breach has caused, noting systems are coming back online and the majority should be restored by the end of June.
“We deeply regret any distress this has caused,” Marshall said.
The unprecedented cyber-attack saw Sarnia-Lambton’s Bluewater Health the most heavily impacted, with 82,000 patients affected. Erie Shores HealthCare saw 102,000 patients impacted and Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital saw 46,000 and 27,800 patients impacted respectively.
With the exception of Bluewater Health, electronic medical records were untouched, officials said, however personal health information stored elsewhere on computer systems was involved, as well as employee information for some of the organizations.
All of the affected hospitals will continue to utilize TransForm Shared Services.
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