“If we thought it was always going to be easy, we wouldn’t have become nurses!”

We are now finishing our second week of redesigned processes that remind us of the past, as we continue to recover from the cyberattack. Our IT professionals are working with experts from around the world to recreate our computer systems and clean the hardware of the malware that caused the damage. Meanwhile, our clinicians, with the help of our support staff, who are going above and beyond their normal duties, keep stepping up to deliver the care that we want for our own loved ones to every patient, every time.  

We are using our downtime procedures and staying vigilant to keep patients safe without our typical computer oversight. Our pharmacy team has done an outstanding job of serving patients without their usual computer systems functioning. I have been rounding frequently and I have been humbled again and again by the hard work, commitment, and resiliency of our staff. I was rounding on Wednesday evening and I asked a couple of our nurses on an inpatient unit how things were going. 

When I told them how grateful I was for their work, one of them replied: “If we thought it was always going to be easy, we wouldn’t have become nurses!” I couldn’t see her smile because of her mask, but I could see the twinkle in her eye and the joy that comes from service in the face of adversity. The teamwork has been so evident throughout our healthcare system - I am in awe of my colleagues.

We recognize our responsibility to keep the information entrusted to us secure. There is no evidence at this time that any information has been misused by the criminals who attacked us. We will continue to partner with outside experts in the field of IT and cybersecurity, as well as law enforcement, as we assess the situation and safely return functionality.  

Please let me express my sincere gratitude for the tireless efforts that our IT team, clinicians, and other staff have shown. We are getting through this together and we will learn from this event. We will become an even stronger system because of it!