About 260 employees of the Erie St. Clair Community Care Access Centre are on strike after turning down a contract offer.
The workers arrange for home care and help co-ordinate hospital discharges and the LHIN is working to make sure that patient flow is not affected by the nurse's strike. CEO Lori Marshall says current patients will continue to receive care as usual, because front line staff are employed by the CCAC's service provider.
As for processing new patients, she explains, "it may take us a little bit longer to get to those referrals. But we will be working through those in order of priority." Marshall says the CCAC is willing to get back to the bargaining table at any time, in hopes of agreeing to a new contract with the Ontario Nurses Association.
Ontario Nurses Association Vice President Vicky McKenna says nine of the ten bargaining units voted to strike last night. "I can tell you this is the last place that they want to be. Unfortunately, they're left with really no choice," says McKenna. "So we'll be on picket lines. We've told the employers and the government this is not where we want to be. They want to be back at work. But they need a fair contract offer in order for them to do that."
The local CCAC covers Chatham-Kent, Windsor-Essex and Sarnia-Lambton.
-- with files from Simon Crouch