Samaritan Announces $5.8 Million Investment in Samaritan Caregivers and an Increase in the Starting Wage for Certified Nursing Assistants
Published on: January 23, 2025
Watertown, N.Y. – Samaritan Medical Center is proud to announce a $5.8 million investment in its staff with market rate wage adjustments across the organization for non-union employees. This initiative underscores the organization’s commitment to providing competitive compensation in line with the current healthcare job market, improving recruitment and retention efforts, and ensuring that staff across all departments are compensated for their hard work and dedication.
Samaritan’s senior leadership team and Board of Trustees carefully reviewed compensation data. They identified opportunities to align wages with industry standards better, reflecting staff’s critical role in delivering exceptional patient care. These market rate adjustments will apply to a wide range of positions across the organization; over 1,400 titles were impacted. This investment comes on top of major adjustments already made in 2024 for several other titles and through contract negotiations.
“We are deeply committed to supporting our employees, who are the heart of our mission,” said Samaritan’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas H. Carman. “Over the past few years, a national workforce crisis struck every industry, and healthcare was uniquely impacted due to the specialized training, credentials, and experience needed to fill the roles we have. We must continue to offer competitive wages to recruit and retain the talented individuals who make our health system a trusted place for care. We will continue to work hard to ensure we can financially cover the steep increases in wages we have experienced over the past few years. It is a necessary investment to continue our role as the region’s largest healthcare system and anchor acute care hospital.”
In addition to market rate adjustments, the Board of Trustees approved a discretionary, one-time payment for non-union staff based on job grades and titles, weighted more heavily to those who earn the least. The market rate adjustments and one-time payments will take effect in late January 2025.
Along with the $5.8 million workforce investment, Samaritan will also significantly increase the starting wage for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) as part of a broader effort to address staffing shortages and retention efforts for a population of caregivers with a higher turnover rate. Recruiting, training, and retaining skilled CNAs is essential to maintaining excellent service and care standards for our long term care residents. Effective January 1, 2025, the starting wages for all new CNAs were increased to $20 per hour at both Samaritan Keep Home and Summit Village.
“Certified Nursing Assistants play a critical role in the daily care and well-being of long term care residents, and we want to convey how essential they are to us by ensuring they are compensated for the care they provide,” said Carman. “By increasing the starting wage for CNAs, we are not only investing in our workforce but also demonstrating our dedication to creating an environment where our employees feel valued and supported for the care they provide.”
The $5.8 million investment and increased starting wage for CNAs are intended to improve wage equity and meet market demand in a competitive healthcare environment. By investing in its people, Samaritan hopes to enhance employee satisfaction further, reduce turnover, and create a positive work culture that fosters excellence in patient and resident care. By adjusting compensation to meet market expectations, Samaritan reinforces its position as an employer of choice for healthcare professionals in the region.
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