Allegheny Health Network (AHN), employer of more than 21,000 healthcare professionals across the greater western Pennsylvania region, today announced plans for significant additional investments in its workforce benefits and culture.
Representing a more than $92 million commitment this year to AHN’s caregivers, the organization’s workforce investments include increasing the minimum base salary rate for bedside registered nurses to $30/per hour, with additional salary increases for existing bedside registered nurses to maintain appropriate differentiation between experience levels; loan or tuition forgiveness for May 2022 graduates of AHN’s West Penn School of Nursing and Citizens School of Nursing in exchange for a 3 year commitment to work as a direct care/beside nurse in the network; further increasing the minimum starting salary rate for all AHN employees; and a variety of enhanced lifestyle and career development programs designed to further improve the work-life experience and professional growth of those who help the organization achieve its mission every day.
The new workforce investments announced today do not apply to AHN bargaining unit team members, but the network also continues to work with its union partners on potential retention strategies.
AHN’s strong commitment to the health, success and fulfillment of its workforce has taken on even greater urgency in the wake of the COVID pandemic and the related national shortage of healthcare professionals in many critical roles. The Network has taken several actions over the past couple of years to help recruit talent to the organization, and to retain and reward its existing dedicated teams, including enhanced incentive payments, a series of market-aligned base pay increases for clinical and non-clinical roles, and a $15 minimum wage for all AHN team members. In 2020, AHN also provided $5 Million in bonus payments to frontline caregivers for their extraordinary efforts during the pandemic.
“The unprecedented challenges that health care organizations have experienced during the pandemic have only further reinforced how incredibly important our amazing, selfless caregivers are to the health and well-being of the communities we serve,” said Cynthia Hundorfean, AHN President and CEO. “Through very turbulent and difficult times, the one constant has been the exceptionalism of our team members in the care and comfort they have provided to patients, and in the call they have answered without fail to meet the community’s needs in every way possible. This dedication has not gone unnoticed, especially as we too grapple with the staffing pressures that confront our industry. Rewarding and retaining our valued employees and attracting others to join the team through competitive wages and benefits, and an unsurpassed culture of employee engagement, opportunity and respect, is our top priority.”
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About the Allegheny Health Network:
Allegheny Health Network (AHN.org), is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region. The Network is composed of 14 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, Health + Wellness Pavilions, multiple employed physician organizations, home and community-based health services, a research institute, and a group purchasing organization. The Network provides patients with access to a complete spectrum of advanced medical services, including nationally recognized programs for primary and emergency care, trauma care, cardiovascular disease, organ transplantation, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, women’s health, diabetes, autoimmune disease and more. AHN employs approximately 21,000 people, has more than 2,600 physicians on its medical staff and serves as a clinical campus for Drexel University College of Medicine and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
