Government officials are defending their level of transparency regarding the IT outage plaguing the healthcare system.
Questions in the House of Assembly on Tuesday were met with repetitive and often vague answers regarding the situation. Health Minister John Haggie says because the situation is a potential security issue, there are some questions that simply cannot be answered.
When asked if the opposition can expect similar answers in the house for the rest of the week, Haggie simply responded “yes.” He explains that if this turns into a security issue, it would be “totally inappropriate” for him to say anything other than what is prudent.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader David Brazil asked if government would declare a state of emergency due to the situation.
Deputy Premier Siobhan Coady says such situations have happened in other jurisdictions, pointing to comments made by Eastern Health CEO David Diamond on Monday that they have faced similar challenges before, and noting that the proper personnel have been engaged. She says she doesn’t see the situation as an emergency at this time.
The Opposition says the public demands answers regarding the cyber attack on health care IT services and Leader David Brazil makes no apologies for grilling the minister responsible on the matter in the House of Assembly yesterday.
Brazil was responding to what he indicates is a complete dearth of information supplied by government on the matter. He says people are getting worried. He referenced a constituent on Bell Island who was unaware of the problem and arrived at the Health Sciences for her cancer treatment to an empty parking lot and no idea when her treatment will be offered again.
Photo via Premier of NL Twitter
One of the voices missing in the conversation surrounding the IT outage in the healthcare system thus far has been Premier Andrew Furey, something which was brought up in the House of Assembly yesterday.
Furey is in Scotland for the COP-26 climate talks and as such was not at Monday’s news conference regarding the situation, nor has he been in the House of Assembly this week.
Opposition Leader David Brazil raised questions about the Premier’s absence in the House yesterday.
Brazil asked if Furey will cut his conference short and return to deal with what he is deeming a “crisis.” Minister Siobhan Coady says the Premier is fully informed and engaged on the situation, noting that he has a “strong and competent team” to deal with it.
