By James Matthews
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Officials at Haliburton Highlands Health Services continue to work through a recent possible cybersecurity threat that affected operations at Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay.

A suspected cybersecurity threat shut down information services at the hospital on Feb. 5. The incident forced the administration to declare a Code Grey just before 11 p.m.

A Code Grey is initiated at Ontario hospitals if there is a loss of a critical resource such as power, information technology, or communications.

Soon after the episode, the hospital retained third-party cybersecurity resources to work with on-site technical experts to investigate the incident.

That work is ongoing.

There has been no word that the cybersecurity incident was ransomware oriented.

“HHHS continues to work closely with our local and regional partners to support the investigation of the cybersecurity issue,” said Carolyn Plummer, the healthcare provider’s CEO.

“We know that RMH is working hard on the investigation and we will share more information when we are able. In the meantime, HHHS is operating based on our established protocols to continue delivering services to the community.”

Plummer said high-quality patient care is the priority of the hospital and HHHS.

The hospital’s systems restoration plan is ongoing, and officials were communicating with local, regional, and provincial partners regarding next steps.