LifeBridge Health raises its minimum wage to $16

LifeBridge Health is raising the minimum wage of many workers — including all of its hospital employees — to $16 an hour.

More than 270 employees recently saw a bump in their paychecks this month, the nonprofit Baltimore-based health system announced Monday. The increase also will apply to the starting wage for almost 2,500 jobs where current employees already make that much or more.

LifeBridge operates Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Grace Medical Center in Southwest Baltimore and the Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital in Northwest Baltimore, as well as Northwest Hospital in Randallstown and Carroll Hospital in Westminster, plus other related facilities.

“As we work to build a stronger future, we will continue to prioritize investing in our people,” LifeBridge Chief Operating Officer Leslie Simmons said. “We understand the importance of evaluating compensation and making adjustments that recognize team members for their valuable contributions. LifeBridge Health will continue to make investments that allow our health system to remain competitive in a high-demand market.”

LifeBridge, which generated $246 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 2020, the last year with publicly available data, paid its CEO Neil Meltzer more than $2.7 million that year.

The minimum wage in Maryland for workers at a business with 15 or more employees is $12.50 an hour and is scheduled to increase every year until it reaches $15 an hour in 2026.