Bluewater Health getting new more secure hospital info system Sarnia Lambton County This Week

pBluewater Health hardest hit by a cyberattack on five Southwestern Ontario hospitals last fall had a relatively dated system for storing and sharing patient information at the time Bluewater Healths board chairperson saysppppIt did make a difference said Margaret Dragan about the hospital groups 20plusyearold hospital information system thats been eyed for an update since 2013ppppOther hospitals in ChathamKent Leamington and Windsor affected by the ransomware attack detected Oct 23 via shared supply and technology systems provider TransForm Shared Service Organization already were using a newer Oracle Cerner hospital information system at the time Dragan saidppppBluewater Health announced recently its switching to Oracle Cerner by the end of 2024ppppThe upgrade was expected to happen around now even before the cyberattack Dragan said adding Bluewater took its time evaluating hospital information system options before deciding because it wanted to be thoroughppppVendors are making Bluewater Healths implementation a priority because of the cyberattack a hospital official saidppppDragan stopped short of saying Bluewater Healths existing Meditech system still in place until the switch to Oracle Cerner is complete is more vulnerable to cyberattack adding officials have been asked to not talk about certain things given an ongoing police investigationppppBut moving to the new system will put Bluewater Health at the leading edge in terms of security and functionality she saidppppA group called Daixin Team has claimed responsibility for the attack which the Sarnia hospital group has said resulted in the theft of 56 million of its records dating back to 1992 affecting about 267000 peopleppppStolen data includes social insurance numbers for about 20000 patients officials have saidppppA 480million classaction lawsuit has been filed naming all hospitals involved in the attack Bluewater Health ChathamKent Health Alliance Erie Shores HealthCare HôtelDieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital and TransFormppppThose other hospitals switched to Oracle Cerner sooner because their former hospital information systems were nearing end of life Dragan said whereas Bluewater Health still had system support and could afford to waitppppGood news is Bluewater Health can benefit from those other hospitals experience with the transition she saidppppAsked if Bluewater Health should have considered switching faster Dragan said I dont know that theres any value in answering that question We are where we areppppWere looking forward and we will be implementing this new system which will offer security and service to our communityppppBluewater Health will be joining the other Erie St Clair hospitals in ChathamKent and Windsor Essex in adopting a particular database for the Oracle Cerner system called the Erie St Clair instance she saidppppItll also include a health information exchange platform that lets hospitals more easily share patient data with hospitals in London officials said in a releaseppppLondon hospitals use a different Oracle Cerner instance Dragan saidppppSharing information between hospitals is useful as patients often attend different hospitals officials have saidppppBluewater Health in 2013 estimated switching to Cerner would cost 11 million up front and another 14 million for upgrades system maintenance and licensing over 10 yearsppppThose costs have increased though totals still are being refined Dragan saidppppThe contract with Oracle Cerner hadnt been signed as of Friday afternoon she said Until we sign a contract were not releasing that cost numberppppRemaining systems affected by the cyberattack including Bluewater Healths hospital information system should be restored within a few weeks she said noting individual systems are being brought back piecemeal not all at once for security reasonsppppUntil that full restoration hospital personnel still dont have access to things such as patient health card numbers medical histories medication lists and patient care reports from other clinicians she saidppppThings like the payroll system have been at least partly restored and Bluewater Health has focused on restoring core clinical systems Dragan saidppppWe will have all systems operational very soon she said though some only on a limited basisppppWe will not be connecting all systems to each other for security reasons she saidppppNo further information was available about the lawsuit as of Jan 12 she saidppppPublic hospital board meetings are expected to resume Jan 24 she said The board last met publicly in SeptemberppppWe backed off as a board after the attack because the hospital leaders and staff had other things that needed to be taken care of she saidppppThe board has been meeting and taking minutes quite frequently in private she saidppppAlways in camera because we were discussing primarily the cyberattack she saidppppWe only dealt with those hospital matters that absolutely required board approval and those critical things generally were in camerappppThat appears to include what hospital officials said in the release was a vote to adopt the Oracle Cerner hospital information systemppppDragan thanked board members for the time theyve investedppppThere were many many meetings through the fall she said They just werent publicppppShe also credited Bluewater Health staff and leadership for their hard workppppThese folks have just done a frankly amazing job responding to this crisis and providing just exemplary care under really extreme circumstances she said These folks are tired but they just keep giving it their all and the board is ever so gratefulppppExpectations are the new hospital information system will serve SarniaLambton well in terms of security and connectivity she saidppppWere very grateful for the support and collaboration of our peer hospitals in the area as well as the province and for the cooperation from the community and local healthcare professionals she saidppppThese are terrible terrible situations she said We sure do appreciate everyone standing by usppppWhile more WindsorEssex patients have been reportedly crossing the border for health care in the wake of the attack that hasnt been the case in Sarnia Bluewater Healths Tara Young saidppppRather were currently experiencing a significant surge linked to high respiratory and medicine admissions postholidays she said in an emailppppHigher than normal emergency department visits and admissions have been happening since Dec 27 historically the busiest day of the year she saidppppInpatient acute bed occupancy also has been 100 per cent or more she saidppppPostmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email 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