The new minimum wage at all Medical City Facilities is $13/hour, nearly double the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour. The wage increase will apply to more than 500 employees across the system. The wage increase accompanies other retention benefits that include tuition reimbursement, nursing school support, and loan repayment programs.
“This wage increase reflects our commitment to recruit and retain the very best talent,” says Erol Akdamar, president of Medical City Healthcare via release. “Helping to ensure that our colleagues are financially stable contributes to the high quality care they provide to our patients.”
The battle to retain talent is fierce in Texas, with the unemployment rate at just 3 percent. The tight competition for workers means industries with minimum wage employees are having trouble keeping them, with greener pastures around every corner. Medical City’s minimum wage move will increase their wages by 79 percent.
The move follows Dallas County and City of Dallas moves to increase minimum wage to $15/hour for the city and county employees earlier this year. Dallas is one of many municipalities that have done so, as the national minimum wage has not been raised in more than a decade.
Opponents of raising the minimum wage say that it could cause business closures or layoffs. But in New York City, where all businesses with more than 10 people have to pay their employees $15/hour, revenue and employment have gone up since the change, despite the increased prices.
