More than 100 surgeries cancelled after Shaw explosion knocks out medical computer network

Alberta’s health-care system will be fully operational and back online by the end of the week, the province’s health board said Friday.

Some 110 elective surgeries were cancelled after a transformer exploded at Shaw Communications’ downtown Calgary headquarters. Wednesday’s blaze knocked down the Alberta Health Services electronic network and caused widespread disruptions for many government services.

The health board’s computer system is maintained by IBM which operates out of the Shaw building.

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“This will take several hours but we are back on track,” said AHS Calgary zone medical director Francois Belanger. “By Monday we will be back to full operation.”

According to the health superboard, patient records will be brought back online based on priority. People are still asked to postpone non-urgent lab tests and exams.

According to the health superboard, patient records will be brought back online based on priority. People are still asked to postpone non-urgent lab tests and exams. The number of surgeries cancelled Friday constituted about half of the scheduled surgeries.

AHS says it could take several weeks to reschedule the missed surgeries.

By Friday, some government services affected by the fire were back online, including court system services and high school transcripts processing.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald