Hard-hit hospitals reward workers

Hospital systems have awarded bonuses and maintained salary increases, though some may find the raise less than they expected.

A spokesman for Yale New Haven Health said overall the more than 28,600 staff members are receiving more in bonuses this year than in most. While the “performance incentive plan” will be 1 percent of annual salary — half what it was last year — Yale New Haven awarded employees a 5 percent bonus in May for their efforts caring for COVID-19 patients.

The annual bonus varies based on “how the organization has done for the year,” said Vincent Petrini, senior vice president for communications. “I think we’re one of the few hospitals in the country that does it.”

In most years, the bonus is calculated based on how well the hospital performed financially, as well as how well it met its goals in patient satisfaction and quality standards set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Petrini said. Last year, the bonus was 2.01 percent.

“What we try to do is align the goals of every employee in the organization to the hospital goals every year,” Petrini said.

But this year, the health system lost $ 120 million, after receiving about $320 million in CARES Act money. The pandemic also made it difficult to gauge how the hospital performed in other areas.

Petrini said management asked, “Do we really think it’s fair to give people a bonus based on operating margin, given there were big financial losses?” So executives decided to give everyone 1 percent, on top of the 5 percent given in May.

“This year, unlike every other year, all those goals … were not factored in,” he said.

Petrini said the annual salary increase, budgeted at 2 percent overall, usually ranges between zero and 3 or 4 percent. This year, he said, “we couldn’t really gauge performance in particular metrics” so management decided, “we’re just going to give a 2 percent increase across the board,” except for directors and above, who received no salary increase.

Petrini said the commemorative medallion given ti employees “was funded by a donor that wanted to recognize our employees as heroes.” According to the accompanying card, its design “is based on a wellrespected military tradition. It symbolizes excellence, teamwork and the strong bonds created when people work together for a single purpose.”

Stamford Hospital also is paying bonuses, but they were calculated differently to account for the pandemic, said Sal Mancini, vice president of human resources for Stamford Health. “We took the opportunity to recognize each employee’s part … because everybody worked hard for COVID,” he said.

Goals were set for each employee because “you have to achieve something to get a bonus,” Mancini said, and workers who had not been on staff long enough to have qualified in most years were included. “They literally jumped right in and they got a bonus as well,” he said.

Among the human resources staff, goals included holding a career fair and setting up a labor pool to assign employees to new tasks as needed. When elective procedures and outpatient services were suspended, some workers, such as physical therapists or nurses in orthopedics, went into the labor pool to be assigned to turn COVID patients on their chests in intensive care, screen employees at the entrances or deliver personal protective equipment.

“It was either a choice of not working or working in the labor pool,” Mancini said.

All employees also will receive “a fixed percentage” salary increase, he said. While he wouldn’t reveal the amount because all employees hadn’t been notified, Mancini said it’s “really competitive and it’s a healthy percentage.”

Stamford Health, which has 3,700 employees, 3,100 at Stamford Hospital, was not able to avoid furloughs, but all 375 affected employees have returned to work. “It was a difficult decision for us. It’s the last thing we want to implement,” Mancini said. “The great story is we did a swift comeback and everyone was brought back by the end of the summer.” The hospital also hired additional staff to handle the COVID surge, including nurses and respiratory therapists.

Andrea Jodko, spokeswoman for Nuvance Health, wrote in an email, “Staffing levels are stable with resources focused on the COVID-19 surge management. We continue to compensate our employees at market-competitive rates despite the financial burden of the pandemic.” She said executives would not receive bonuses or performance increases “in order for limited resources to be shared by our frontline staff.”

Nuvance has seven hospitals in Connecticut and New York state, including Danbury, Norwalk, and New Milford and Sharon hospitals in Litchfield County.

“Our employees are the heart and soul of this organization and we are so proud of the compassion and commitment shown in the face of this pandemic,” Jodko wrote.

She said the health care system had implemented new benefits, including expanded paid time off, paying those diagnosed with COVID-19 instead of them having to use paid time off, subsidized hotel stays, no co-pays or deductibles for employees who contract the virus, emotional, spiritual and peer counseling and access to a Peloton bike and workout apps.