How long to see Windsor ER doc? Hospital wait time clocks still down after cyberattack

Patients wondering how long they’ll have to wait to be seen at local hospital emergency departments currently have to find out the old-fashioned way — show up and sit down. 

The emergency department wait time clocks for Windsor Regional Hospital and Leamington’s Erie Shores HealthCare have yet to return to their respective websites after going down with other systems during last year’s cyberattack.

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Previously, those posted local ER wait times stretched into hours. 

Windsor Regional Hospital spokesman Steve Erwin told the Star on Wednesday that, even before the cyberattack, the software was reaching the end of its life in terms of compatibility with the organization’s computer systems.  

“We’ll look into new software in the future which can pull the data and interpret it in live time as before,” said Erwin, the hospital’s director of public affairs and communications. 

“Any time you use third-party software you have to ensure it meets cyber security standards, of course, so we will take our time in looking at options.” 

In 2018, Windsor Regional Hospital launched an online clock for its Ouellette and Met campuses that estimated in real time how long patients could expect to be seen by an emergency room doctor. Erie Shores HealthCare launched a similar service in March 2023. 

A spokesperson for the Leamington hospital told the Star on Wednesday that, following the cyberattack, its service is in a similar limbo as Windsor’s hospitals.

“We used the same company previously, which is no longer available to us,” said Kevin Black, manager of communications, community engagement and public affairs. “Our team is working with the regional partners to hopefully find a new option that works with our systems.” 

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In October 2023, Windsor Regional Hospital, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Chatham-Kent Alliance, Bluewater Health, and their shared service provider, Transform Shared Service Organization, fell victim to a cyberattack.  

The ransomware assault shut down systems at all the hospitals, delayed procedures, and forced some local patients to seek treatment in other cities. 

The hackers also stole mountains of sensitive information and posted it on the dark web after the hospitals refused to pay a ransom. 

All clinical systems have since been restored. But in February, Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj, who has since been seconded to run London Health Sciences Centre, said it would likely take all of 2024 to fully recover from the cyberattack. 

Erwin said Wednesday that functions not yet up and running are non-clinical and non-critical, including some back-of-office inconveniences and the wait time clocks. 

Lengthy emergency room wait times have been an ongoing issue across Ontario, with human resource shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic escalating the issue over the last several years. 

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During at least one point, in April 2022, the wait time for a first assessment by a doctor in the emergency department at Windsor Regional Hospital’s Met campus was five hours. It was the longest wait time in Ontario that month, according to Ontario Health.  

Over the last year, Ontario Health said the average emergency room wait time across the province for a first assessment by a doctor had remained steady at around two hours. 

In May, the last month for which data is available, the average wait time at Windsor Regional Hospital’s Met campus was 3.8 hours. At Ouellette campus, it was 3.3 hours. The wait for a doctor’s first assessment at Erie Shores HealthCare was 2.4 hours. 

The shortest wait time in Ontario, at South Bruce Grey Health Centre’s Durham campus, was half an hour. Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Hawkesbury and District General Hospital tied for the longest wait time in May, at 4.6 hours.

twilhelm@postmedia.com

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