Discussions

I’m just curious if anyone has any more information on the current computer system failure at PMH. I was told last week the system went down and when I was trying to get an x-ray I was turned away.  
 
Finally was able to get it done but they said it would be awhile before my doctor gets any reports. I’m just surprised that nothing more than the little blurb in the Brandon sun earlier this week is all that has been released. PMH should be upfront about this issues with the people in the area. The Brandon Sun stated patient care hasn’t been affect yet they are declining patients diagnostic procedures and reports are slow to return.

I asked a few questions of the RHA after reading this.  
Below is the response received from a spokesperson from Shared Health. Digital Health (a Shared Health service) provides IT services to RHAs in Manitoba including Prairie Mountain. The biggest takeaway for me is that they say this is not because of a cyber attack and that there was no risk to privacy or security of information.  
 
"Hi Adam,  
Thanks for reaching out. Your request was sent to Shared Health as we provide information technology services across Manitoba’s regional health authorities. That means that all digital services, including internal storage systems, email, some websites, and electronic records are provided by Shared Health.  
 
Last week, we identified a file allocation error that caused connection issues within our digital infrastructure. This resulted in a number of server-based applications to go offline at some sites across Prairie Mountain Health.  
 
It’s important to clarify that this interruption was not the result of a cyber-attack and did not pose a risk to patient privacy or security of information.  
 
Systems impacted include some designed to support clinical delivery (for example, temporary loss of access to radiology reporting) and business services (including internal human resources system, careers job posting site, internet services and email).  
 
This interruption has had limited impact to the delivery of patient care, as there are well-established downtime procedures in place. However it has meant that staff have needed to do some tasks manually that would ordinarily be done by computer. As an example, patients in need of x-ray services have continued to receive care in exactly the same way. For radiologists however, instead of reviewing the patient image and providing consultation to the physician over the network, it is happening in real time.  
 
The majority of impacted applications have now been restored and we continue to work closely with Prairie Mountain Health to resolve the remaining offline applications as quickly as possible."

The direct email address for further questions is info (--at--)sharedhealthmb.ca

Updated media release sent to me this afternoon by a representative of Shared Health:  
 
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On September 25, 2019, connection issues were identified within the digital system used by Prairie Mountain Health (PMH). These issues resulted in a number of server-based applications temporarily going offline at some sites across the region. Since then, work to resolve any offline applications has been underway and the majority have now been restored.  
 
It is important to note that this issue was not the result of a cyber-attack.  
 
Brandon Regional Health Centre (along with some smaller sites in southern parts of the region) is experiencing related connection issues with the Radiology Information System. Patients continue to receive services in the same way, however staff are working in downtime procedures which may result in minor delays in the generation of preliminary reports for regular or routine scans. There is no impact to emergent or urgent scans as radiology consultations with physicians are occurring verbally, in real time.  
 
Some electronic patient records for the Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC) Pacemaker Clinic are also currently unreadable within the system. While much of this patient information is also available within BRHC health records, the outage has affected our ability to access appointment schedules and some aspects of records from previous patient appointments.  
 
Prairie Mountain Health is contacting all Pacemaker Clinic patients to confirm new appointment dates and times.  
 
We continue to work on resolving these remaining issues. An investigation into the cause and any affected electronic records within the impacted applications is underway.  
 
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