Adam Topp joins Chatham-Kent Health Alliance leadership, 1 year after ransomware attack

Nearly a year after a ransomware attack stole millions of patient information, the new Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) president and CEO says southwestern Ontario hospitals are much more experienced avoiding cybersecurity issues.

"There's a few residual issues associated with that, but we're largely through that cyberattack," Adam Topp toldWindsor Morning'sPeter Duck.

Toppbrings more than 30 years of health-care experience into the position, having previously worked in Manitoba and Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital.

He was most recently the CEO of Manitoba Shared Health until he "resigned" in 2023, according to the organization. Compensation disclosuresshowTopp'spay at Shared Health exceeded $600,000 last year a nearly 83 per cent increase from the prior year despite only working for four months before his unexpected departure from the provincial health-care organization.

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The former head of Manitoba Shared Health worked for only four months in 2023, but was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the previous year. A business expert says big severance payouts are part of the cost of doing business with top executives.

Although Topp officially assumed the role earlier this month, his hiring was announced in July. In a July 18 press release, CKHA Board Chair Deb Crawford said she's "delighted" that Topp will assume the role.

"He brings significant experience and knowledge to the organization, and a well-established track record of strategic leadership, transparency and collaboration, with an authentic focus on patients and families," she said in the press release.

Topp spoke to Windsor Morningabout the new position, what drew him to Chatham-Kent, and how the hospital is moving on from the 2023 cyberattack. Here's part of their conversation.

How do you think your previous leadership roles in Manitoba and at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital have prepared you for being the new president and CEO at the CKHA?

I've worked across the country in a variety of positions, and I'm really looking forward to the challenges that Chatham-Kent and most specifically the rural health care challenges are. It's really important to make sure that people in these parts of the country have access to health care, and I learned a great deal about that in Manitobaand I'll bring that experience here.

What did you know about Chatham-Kent and its hospital network before looking at taking this job?

I had been here about ten years ago. I was certainly aware the hospital had done some work in Windsor, had done some work in London, so I was well aware of it.

I haven't lived in this area before, but I'm very interested in southwestern Ontario, southern Ontario. So I didn't know a great deal about it, but I'm learning a lot about it in the last few weeks.

In your early days there, what was maybe the first positive thing you noticed about how the hospital's already been set up and maybe the first area of improvement you noticed?

It's a great hospital. The team here is excellent and I think that's what I've noticed first. The team here really has a good handle on our patient needs and has created a great environment for that.

In terms of where we need to improve, I think like most hospitals in Ontario, we've got some financial issues that we'll need to resolve so that we can stay solvent and keep providing patient care.

We certainly got some redevelopment, as does the Windsor hospital that will be looking forward,making sure that that gets underway and creates the better environment to take care of our patients.

What kind of redevelopment are you looking at going forward?

The Wallaceburgsite of our hospital is undergoing the development of a new emergency room and new patient beds, as well as some new diagnostic imaging and some clinic space. That project is just getting underway.

Now, you've come in on the heels of last fall, [when] we had a ransomware attack on all the hospitals in this corner of Ontario. That was just about a year ago. Where is Chatham-Kent Health Alliance at after kind of recovering from that, and what have you done to try to avoid this kind of thing in the future?

There's a few residual issues associated with that, but we're largely through that that cyberattack.

In terms of avoiding in the future, there's a great deal of cybersecurity that goes on in all hospitals. And I think that the hospitals in southwestern Ontario have that much more experience under their belt now to avoid serious issues like that in the future.

[We] can't be too diligent in maintaining awareness as to who is trying to hack into the system, and that there's a great deal of that here and that effort and that ability is being expanded all the time.

How do you regain people's trust in the hospital after something like that?

I think it's an issue not just in the hospital, but it's an issue with digital information of any kind. It's certainly something that we need to be very diligent about. People's health records and health information is not something we want out there.

I think it does take a little bit of faith to believe that all of our digital information is safe and secure. But putting the systems in place and the checks and balances and the diligence in place to monitor it is really what we can do. And we'll let people know how that's going.

WATCH:Cybercriminal group claims responsibility for ransomware attack on hospitals:

Cybercriminal group claims responsibility for ransomware attack on hospitals

12 months ago

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According to a blog, cybercriminal group Daixin says it has attacked the hospitals in southwestern Ontario and forced them to go dark. CBC's Jennifer La Grassa breaks down more details the group shared about how it got into hospital systems.

Chatham-Kent is unique for its urban-rural makeup. From what you've gathered so far, how does your hospital work in concert with others in the surrounding areas to help patients in the way they need to be helped and and moved about to get to the specialized care they need?

Well, that's certainly one of the things that I'm looking forward to in this area, not only getting to the specialized care, but also making sure that people have access to the everyday care, the primary care that they need.

I think one of the challenges that we face in it was to make sure that we have an integrated system where hospitals like the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance work very closely with our hospital partners and whether they are providing more specialty services, whether that's Windsor or London, or making sure that our patients are treated appropriately among the other community hospitals. That's a challenge we all face to make sure that access is the best that it can be. So I'll be looking forward to that.

I do know the hospital in Windsor quite well and the senior team there as well as in London, and I'm looking forward to working with them to make sure that the patients receive the care that they should receive here and in Chatham-Kent and the care that they need to receive in London or Windsor.