Day 1 of the transit strike was a long and inconvenient day at area hospitals, but both private and city health facilities reported no major disruptions or strike-related injuries.

Should the strike continue, however, health officials worry about the stress placed on health care workers, and some disabled New Yorkers fear that an extended transit shutdown will strand them without access to important care.

The president and CEO of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Herbert Pardes, commended hospital staff for tolerating an extra-long commute and potentially longer shifts. But Mr. Pardes worried that an extended strike could burn out staff.

“To some extent, people will probably find their routines tougher. My concern is that it is more taxing for people,” he said.

Dr. Pardes, who runs New York’s largest hospital, which is also the city’s largest private employer, also alerted the mayor’s office that hospital vans carrying medical staff were getting held up at traffic checkpoints for up to two hours.

The Greater New York Hospital Association was monitoring area health care facilities and reported no significant disruption in staffing or patient care, a spokesman, Brian Conway, said. And the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said that all essential services were operating normally.

But for the city’s more than 65,000 wheelchair users and hundreds of thousands of disabled and elderly residents, many of whom rely on public buses for daily transport, yesterday was more than an inconvenience.

A disabled New Yorker, Jean Ryan, who is a member of the advocacy group Disabled in Action, said, “Basically we are stuck in our houses and apartments, or at least in our neighborhoods.”

Another disabled resident, Anthony Trocchia, said that a prolonged strike would be a serious health concern for the thousands of city residents who require personal daily care in their homes.

“It is very difficult. Personal care attendants earn a few dollars more than minimum wage. I’m paying for their taxi today, but I can’t do it forever. I need the service to get out of bed and eat,” he said. “The average New Yorker is worried about Christmas shopping, but we are looking at day-to-day survival.”

A disabled Queens resident, Maureen Green, said she missed a physical therapy appointment today in Midtown because the city’s door-to-door transit service for the handicapped, Access-a-Ride, was running hours behind schedule.

She has canceled tomorrow’s appointment and is worried that without treatment she will suffer more pain in her bad back and be limited in her daily movements.

Still, Ms. Ryan, the advocate for the disabled, was reluctant to blame the transit workers for the potentially dangerous disruption. She said: “I think it disproportionately affects us, but I’m still not angry. Just about everything disproportionately affects us. When the transportation system is working, it is still difficult to get around.”