Bon Secours Mercy Health accelerates living wage compensation

Published 8:00 am Tuesday, December 24, 2019

RUSSELL, Ky. — Bon Secours Mercy Health, of which Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital is a member, recently announced a new compensation model designed to enable its associates and their families to enjoy a dignified livelihood while working and in retirement. This will be accomplished by a phased approach from now to 2022, bringing Bon Secours Mercy Health’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, adjusted for cost of living variances, in all of the health system’s U.S. markets.

This change will affect more than 8,100 associates, or 14 percent of the health system’s 60,000 employees, amounting to an additional $17 million investment in associate pay in the next three years. Exceptions to this change include union workers whose wages are negotiated as part of their collective bargaining agreements, which represents approximately 7 percent of the health system’s work force, and the Ireland market, which joined the health system in 2019.

“At Bon Secours Mercy Health, our associates answer an important calling as they deliver compassionate care to our patients and communities,” said Joe Gage, chief human resources officer of Bon Secours Mercy Health. “We are proud to provide our associates a dignified livelihood, which includes a competitive living wage, affordable access to health care, and other programs that support their well-being, in body, mind and spirit.”

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To be an employer of choice, Bon Secours Mercy Health uses salary surveys to annually evaluate and refine associate compensation. Data from the Economic Research Institute is also used to calculate the cost of living among the more than 10 markets the health system serves in the U.S.