Medical Center Increases Minimum Wage

Greene County Medical Center CEO Carl Behne announced in early July that the medical center would be raising its minimum wage to $10.21/hour, beginning with their new fiscal year, on July 1.

This increase immediately impacted just under 10% of employees, mostly in environmental and nutritional service areas.  Some of these employees saw a maximum hourly increase of .67 cents.

The medical center has long been above the State of Iowa’s required minimum wage of $7.25 and wants to continue working toward another minimum wage increase in the future, according to Behne.

“This is significant to those it impacts directly, but it is also good for the community, as increased wages increase retail sales,” Behne noted.  “The better our minimum wage is, the better we can recruit qualified workers in areas that are sometimes difficult to fill because of wage limitations.”  According to the Iowa Hospital Association, Greene County Medical Center’s payroll impact on the local economy in 2017 was $25,322,994.

In addition to the increase in their minimum wage, a 2% merit increase was given to all qualifying employees and 15 positions received a market adjustment increase.