Administrators at East Liverpool City Hospital say they have taken immediate action in preparation for a possible nurses strike by halting admissions as of  2:00 p.m. Wednesday.


According to a news release issued by the hospital on Wednesday, the East Liverpool Nurses Association issued a 10-day strike notice before entering their last week of negotiations with the hospital.


The statement did not say when the strike could occur, but a supervisor reached at the hospital Thursday morning told 21 News that the deadline is Saturday at midnight.


The hospital says that various units will be closed during the duration of the strike, should one occur.


The Emergency Department, Wound Care Center, and Senior Behavioral Health will remain open, as will most outpatient departments including the lab, radiology, therapy, echo, and EKG. The hospital says it will continue to provide outpatient care in the event of a strike.

The hospital statement says that ELCH has struggled financially for many years, claiming that  increased costs of providing health care services has created a long term decline in financial resources available.

ELCH says it has offered nurses wage increases, education tuition reimbursement, time off with pay, health benefit options, and a competitive retirement plan. The hospital says that the offer matches that of over 33,000 healthcare workers in Ohio.

The hospital says that a strike will impact all employees as departments will be drastically downsized.  This statement says that the loss could also jeopardize services offered by the hospital in the future if they lose vital physicians and staff.

A representative of the nurses union was not immediately available for comment.

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