Ransomware attack on Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg not impacting patient care, Shared Health says

Manitoba’s largest hospital was the victim of a ransomware attack.

Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg responded to the cyber incident on Monday evening, according to a press release by Shared Health.

Certain facility maintenance systems were affected, including HVAC and door access. Patient care and clinical services were not affected, according to Shared Health.

“HSC is working diligently to address the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the release reads.

“The safety and well-being of patients is always HSC’s top priority. If anyone needs to attend to HSC for care, they should do so.”

Ransomware attacks see hackers demand a hefty payment to restore hacked systems.

Shared Health says the hospital began an investigation “to determine the nature and scope of the impact of the incident.”

“This incident is being treated as a high priority.”

Shared Health has not said when the breach occurred, whether it has been addressed or if the hackers made demands.

The province was notified and the health body is working with third party experts to resolve the incident.

Nurses union questions safety

The union representing nurses in Manitoba is concerned about security risks for its members following a ransomware attack

Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU), says it is troubling that the breach is affecting some of the door access after the union declared the hospital too dangerous to work at last year because of safety concerns.

Jackson says she is not aware of which doors have been impacted, but that she heard Shared Health has sent security guards to man the entrances.

“If there has been a breach that allows doors to be unlocked, that is a big concern for us,” she said.

Jackson said union staff were notified of the attack late Monday afternoon.

Manitoba’s auditor general called for better cybersecurity at Shared Health in a 2024 report.

Tyson Shtykalo said the health care body has a process to respond to cyberattacks but has not been running tests for scenarios such as ransomware or data theft.

The report recommended annual testing and more training for cybersecurity incident response team members.

–With files from The Canadian Press