Almost 3,000 health care workers went on strike Friday morning at nine Community Care Access Centres across Ontario, after rejecting a contract offer Thursday night.

The strike hit nine of the provinces 14 centres, all of which have workers represented by the Ontario Nurses Association: Central, Central East, Erie St. Clair, North East, North Simcoe Muskoka, North West, South East, South West and Waterloo Wellington.

Employees at the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant centre voted in favour of accepting the offer.

In the GTA, the strike will affect centres in North York, York Region including Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham and Newmarket Scarborough and northern and western Durham region, including Pickering and Ajax.

The strike does not affect the Champlain, Central West, Mississauga Halton and Toronto Central centres, where employees are not represented by the ONA.

During the strike, the centres will be open to patients, families and the general public, according to a statement released Friday. The centres will continue to work closely with hospital partners to ensure patients are able to transition home from hospital safely.

Service providers contracted through the centres will continue to provide home care and services such as personal support, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and social work, among others, in keeping with patients care plans, said Megan Allen-Lamb, CEO of the North Simcoe Muskoka centre.

New patients referred to centres affected by the strike will be triaged so those with the greatest need and most complex cases will get prioritized, said Allen-Lamb.

We have staff that are not represented by ONA. We have redeployed them to different positions within the CCAC, ensuring that we are able to take calls from our patients throughout the labour disruptions and handle any patient calls that come in through the CCAC, she said.

Patients will continue to receive care in homes, schools and clinics without interruption, while those waiting for a room in a long-term care home will be contacted as soon as one becomes available.

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Home health care workers on strike across Ontario