Most London-area organizations and businesses not impacted by global IT outage

It appears most public institutions and agencies in the London region are not feeling the effects of the global cyber interruptions, but there are some exceptions.

Western University is feeling the impacts of the cyber disruption, posting on social media, “A software bug in Crowdstrike is impacting many devices at Western, causing them to become temporarily inoperable. WTS (Western Technology Services) is working to identify and fix impacted devices and restore services. More info will be shared as it is available.”

Fanshawe College said in a statement, “Fanshawe is not aware of any impacts related to the global IT outages and all operations are running as normal.”

In a statement to CTV London a London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) representative said, “London Health Sciences Centre is aware of the developing situation involving Crowdstrike and its global impacts. LHSC does not utilize any of Crowdstrike’s services and this outage has no direct impact on patient care within our facilities.”

According to the statement, the hospital is assisting others impacted by the outage, “We are providing support to some partners in our region who require additional IT or patient care resources.”

Officials at Bluewater Health, which oversees hospitals in Sarnia and Petrolia, said operations have been impacted.

A statement on the Bluewater Health website said, “Patients should expect delays in service and potential appointment cancellations following a Microsoft/CrowdStrike global IT outage, which has been confirmed NOT to be a cyber-attack.”

Bluewater Health is part of a shared IT/security service provider called TransForm, along with four other hospitals; Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and Windsor Regional Hospital.

The TransForm group of hospitals experienced a cyberattack in October of 2023 which saw personal health information and some financial information of both patients and staff breached.

It was estimated more than 200,000 people were impacted by that event.

Possible interruptions at Bluewater Health

Emergency Department: Expect longer wait times today

Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, diagnostic imaging (X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, mammography).

The hospital says patients will be contacted directly if the outage impacts their appointment or procedure.

A statement from St. Joseph’s Health Care in London said, “St. Joseph’s Health Care London does not use any of Crowdstrike’s services and this outage has no direct impact on patient care within our facilities. Patient care is proceeding as usual.”

Despite cancellations and delays at airports across Canada and the U.S., London International Airport officials said it’s business as usual at their location.

The London Fire Department, London Police Service, London Police Service and Middlesex-London Paramedic Services report normal operations and no impacts to 911 service.