Hundreds of health care workers at the Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown voted to approve a new labor contract that will increase their wages by 15% over the next three years, according to the 1199SEIU union.

Union members voted 638-8 to approve the contract, which members said also protects their health care and pension benefits and provides for significantly higher on-call pay.

"Members understood that their new contract with Garnet Health needed to be a strong one to get the hospital on track to maintain and recruit staff and improve patient care," said Angela Lane, vice president for the Hudson Valley division of 1199SEIU. "Thanks to their determination, the hospital and the community are better positioned to have the frontline workers necessary to provide the best possible quality care."

At a picket held earlier this month, hospital staff said they’ve worked without a contract since September. They said their wages had failed to keep up with the cost of living, and workers were short-staffed.

Members of1199SEIU continue bargaining at Garnet Health Medical Center Catskills. They rallied outside the Sullivan County hospital in October to call for higher wages and stronger staffing levels.

Garnet Health said this month it was "fully committed to our valuable workforce as well as all residents of Sullivan and Orange Counties.”