The McGill University Heath Centre (MUHC) said its computer systems are back up and running Monday evening after major problems forced the health network to cancel all clinical appointments and close its emergency room.
Dr. Ewa Sidorowicz, the director of professional services at the hospital network, said a ban was issued on ambulances around 11:30 a.m. after the issue was first reported. As a result of the system failure, ambulances were diverted to other hospitals for most of the day.
“The focus here is patient safety,” she said.
As of 6:40 p.m., the MUHC said the problem has been resolved and the ban on ambulances has been lifted.
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The outage forced the MUHC — which includes the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal General Hospital sites — to cancel some surgeries and procedures. For those already hospitalized, care was being provided as usual.
All clininal appointments were also cancelled for the day.
The health centre has confirmed the problems were not the result of a cyberattack and said the network’s IT systems were not responding. The MUHC has launched an investigation to determine the circumstances that led to the glitch.
“Our technical teams are trying to understand what happened here today,” said Sidorowicz.
In a statement issued on Monday evening, the MUHC thanked patients for their collaboration and patience.
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— With files from Global News’ Shakti Langlois-Ortega and the Canadian Press
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