Grand River Community Health Centre Nurses Reach First Tentative Agreement
BRANTFORD, ON, March 12, 2014 /CNW/ - Grand River Community Health Centre Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and its Registered Nurse (RN) have reached a tentative agreement with their employer and are deeply relieved that there will be no disruption in the valuable services they provide to the residents of Brantford and Brant County.
The four nurse practitioners (NPs) and one registered nurse (RN) – members of the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) – had been trying to reach a first collective agreement with their employer since mid-October, 2013. The parties reached an agreement this week.
The NPs provide community-based primary care and offer wellness, health promotion and community development initiatives in Brantford and the County of Brant. The RN manages the immunization program, provides immunization to highly vulnerable infants and provides health promotion and smoking cessation services.
"The extraordinary services provided by our NPs and RN at Grand River CHC enable more than 2,600 people to receive primary care," says ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. "The value of these dedicated nurses is clear to their patients and the community, and achieving an agreement means the employer now recognizes this as well."
Nurse Practitioners at the CHC are diagnosing, prescribing medications and treating some of the most vulnerable residents of Brantford and Brant County. The agreement is a step towards compensating the nurses in recognition of their contribution to the community and to achieving wage parity with their peers working in hospitals and the community.
The agreement is confidential until ratification by the nurses and the employer. The nurses will hold a ratification vote on March 13.
ONA is the union representing 60,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.
Visit us at: www.ona.org; Facebook.com/OntarioNurses; Twitter.com/OntarioNurses
SOURCE: Ontario Nurses' Association
Ontario Nurses' Association, Sheree Bond, (416) 964-1979 ext.2430, cell: (416) 986-8240, [email protected]; Melanie Levenson, (416) 964-1979 ext. 2369, [email protected]
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