The SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes have caused several productions to halt, but General Hospital — America's longest-running soap opera — has found itself a workaround.

In an Instagram post from one of General Hospital's writers, Shannon Peace (her Instagram is now private), she revealed that “Starting next week, the show will be penned exclusively by scab writers which is heartbreaking.”

What this means is that General Hospital has run through the scripts written before the SAG-AFTRA strike and is now enlisting non-union writers to write scripts to keep it on the air. While crossing picket lines is generally not a popular decision, General Hospital being a soap opera changes the situation a little bit.

“We hate to see our characters and storylines handed over to ‘writers’ who cross the picket line,” Peace said in her Instagram post. “But we’re also keenly aware that stopping production could spell the demise of soap operas.”

General Hospital was the creation of soap opera-writing couple Frank and Doris Hursley and is one of the long-standing soap operas still going since its debut six decades ago. The show has run for over 15,000 episodes to date and looks to have no end in sight — especially with this workaround they have found by enlisting scab writers.

Both the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes have had profound impacts on the industry. Everything from blockbuster films to small indies has been forced to rethink their plans as the picket lines have formed. Hopefully, resolutions on both fronts can be found soon so productions like General Hospital can get back in the swing of things.