The rain didn't stop dozens of Good Samaritan Hospital health care workers from picketing on Monday.
Members of the 1199 SEIU union lined up along Route 59 in Suffern outside of the facility, chanting and raising their voices to get the administration's attention.
Good Sam is part of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network.
One battle cry was to bring back home care.
News 12 broke the
story back in April about how several home care services in the Hudson Valley will stop this July.
"A lot of the community members that we did provide home care, wanted to be here. But because they're homebound, they can't get out or couldn't. So, we're the voice for them. For their great loss as well as ours," said Alena Gerson, who has been working in home care for several years.
Another issue raised by emergency department nurses who say recent changes have led to concerns about patient safety and ratios.
Kim Sgandurra, an emergency department nurse, said, "In the ER, every second counts. You need to be to your patients in a quick manner to save lives. And we're stretched to the limit. Like I said, sometimes at night there's three nurses."
Then there were nurse practitioners calling for a fair contract ahead of a meeting also expected on Monday.
A spokesperson for Westchester Medical Center said, "While we fully respect the right of our workforce to have an informational rally, the community should know this is not a strike and it does not have any impact on our ability to continue providing the best possible care for our patients.
The decision to discontinue Home Care Services was announced in April and our comprehensive plan that was approved by the New York State Department of Health is proceeding as planned. This operational decision was made to best support our Network’s mission while maintaining a focus on providing the highest level of patient care, and operations.
Separately, we routinely assess all of our processes and make important clinical enhancements aimed at improving patient safety and care. The changes in the emergency department have not had any impact on staffing levels and were designed with the health and well-being of our patients in mind.
We are also continuing to have productive bargaining sessions with our nurse practitioners with the goal of reaching an initial contract, including our last session on June 2 and a scheduled session for later today."