Shake-up at eHealth board days after damning report on cyberattack

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Saskatchewan’s health minister has dismissed the board that oversees eHealth Saskatchewan, replacing it with two bureaucrats days after a privacy commissioner report eviscerated how the agency dealt with a devastating cyberattack.

The government announced the change in a news release Tuesday, adding that the new board will initiate an independent review of the governance, management and program operations at eHealth. The agency is responsible for electronic health records and IT systems for the province’s health system.

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On Friday, Information and Privacy Commissioner Ron Kruzeniski released a 51-page investigation into a massive privacy breach that began in December 2019. A ransomware attack compromised at least 547,145 files containing personal health information, and possibly many more. Kruzeniski said those files could be “floating around the dark web right now for sale to the highest bidder.” He also found eHealth was woefully unprepared for the attack.

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Health Minister Paul Merriman called the findings “deeply troubling” last week. On Tuesday, he connected the shake-up at eHealth’s board to Kruzeniski’s report.

“Our government takes the protection of personal health information seriously and we are greatly concerned by the findings and recommendations presented in Mr. Kruzeniski’s report,” said Merriman. “As committed, we are taking immediate action to address and review the governance, management and program operations at eHealth to ensure the organization responsible for protecting health information is meeting the serious expectations of Saskatchewan citizens.”

According to the government’s release, the new board will consist of an assistant deputy minister and an associate deputy minister from the Ministry of Health. It’s intended to “provide closer oversight of eHealth Saskatchewan and better accommodate the independent review.”

But the government release said the announcement doesn’t reflect a lack of confidence in the previous board.

“I would like to thank the outgoing Board of Directors for their service,” Merriman said in the release. “I am confident that the new Board appointments as an interim measure will provide closer oversight of eHealth by the Ministry of Health during the governance review.”

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