Essential health-care services will be maintained by the South Central Health District in the event that strike action is taken by close to 700 health- care workers who are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the district board said Tuesday.
The comments were made yesterday, the day after CUPE served strike notice to the group negotiating for health-care employers, the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO), assuring the public that services such as emergency ward, ambulance and hospital care as well as long-term care will continue to be provided.
"District management has developed a contingency plan that will ensure the public has access to essential health services," said board chairman Ernest Elder in a release.
At the board meeting held Tuesday, CEO Lee Spencer said, "It's hard to say right now what action will take place. We'll do our best with what we've got. This is not a personal issue, it has to do with things out of our control. We have a strike plan that deals with some of the issues; I don't think it deals with all the issues."
CUPE representatives indicated they will begin with minor job actions, escalating towards a full pull-out of staff on Jan. 7, 1999.
Part of the district plan is to recruit volunteers to help with care, such as with long-term care patients, but board members admitted Tuesday they didn't know what they would do if they didn't get enough people to volunteer in the event of a strike.
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