MARYSVILLE — The minimum wage for all Memorial Health employees will increase to $15 per hour in the first half of 2020. This will push their lower limit considerably higher than the $7.25 federal and $8.55 state minimums. The move, in large part, comes in response to those announced by other Central Ohio health systems, the market in which Memorial competes for their pool of nearly 1,000 employees.
While details are yet to be finalized and an exact number of employees to be impacted released, the board was informed of the pending change by the hospital administration team as part of its budgeting process for 2020.
“Our decision to make this leap has everything to do with being competitive to retain and hire the very best employees in the region. We are an employer of choice and we want to maintain that status,” provides Memorial Health CEO & President Chip Hubbs. “But I am very glad that the beneficiaries are many of our front line employees who make an impact on our patients all day, every day.”
“Though market driven, this wasn’t a hard decision,” comments Larry Schleeter, Chief Human Resources Officer for Memorial Health. “We have extremely talented team members throughout Memorial and we want to keep them and hire more just like them.” Before the change, Memorial was already committing 59% of their total expenses to salaries, wages and benefits. This change only drives that number higher.
“This is a people business and we are constantly assessing the market relative to pay and benefits,” offers Schleeter. “Healthcare is about people taking care of people, often at the most vulnerable times in their lives. Employees at every level of our organization bring their very best skill and extraordinary compassion every day. Even team members who don’t have direct contact with our patients have a heart for making a difference for those we serve.”
Memorial has grown and expanded its reach rapidly over the last ten years. In addition to Memorial Hospital and Memorial Gables, their 112-bed nursing home, they now operate a busy outpatient facility in Urbana, own 14 physician practices spread across three counties and are preparing to open new inpatient and outpatient pavilions as part of their Memorial 2020 expansion. The regional health system has grown from a $130 million operation to one with more than $300 million in business volume.
“Every member of the Memorial team contributes to our success and the work everyone does collectively has contributed to our incredible growth over the last decade,” says Hubbs. “That success allows us to absorb this increase without significant ramifications to our fiscal health. We are fortunate for that and have worked hard to get to this position.”
Memorial Health is an independent health system based in Marysville, Ohio, which consists of Memorial Hospital’s main campus and satellite outpatient locations including Memorial City Gate Medical Center; Memorial Urbana Medical Center; Memorial Hospital Outpatient Surgery Center; Memorial Gables – a skilled nursing facility; Memorial Medical Group – a network of 32 physicians and mid-level providers with office locations throughout Marysville, Plain City, Richwood, and Urbana; and the Memorial Health Foundation.
