Budget Cuts/Salary Freezes/Furloughs/etc all due to COVID

Published

Specializes in Neurosurgical ICU, Emergency, Psych, Art Therapy.

Hi,

Just curious how many people have been contacted by their hospital about extensive budget issues as a result of COVID. Johns Hopkins in Baltimore ("2nd Best Hospital in the Country") sent out lengthy email to employees explaining all the ways the budget issues will be affecting us, including leadership salary reductions ranging from 5%-20%, no merit based increases this year or next, selecting hiring plans, targeted furloughs, suspension of all retirement contributions, reduction of various resources, halting most new capital projects, and halting equipment purchases (including new medical equipment.) Have other hospitals released any financial/budget related reductions/freezes after COVID???

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Mine did.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych.

My employer is a state university-affiliated hospital system, so I'm not worried about getting fired or losing hours in my nursing job. What I am a bit worried about is my pension. I'm paying into the Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS), and the one-two punch of the oil market collapsing and the Coronavirus-related economic recession is going to hit my state's finances very hard. I'm not at the five-year vesting mark yet and I'm worried how state politicians are going to look at the pension fund.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

We are a county hospital. The first mention of what all the changes COVID has brought in terms of hospital budget happened yesterday. Nobody has been officially furloughed yet, but plenty have had hours cut, being forced to use PTO, etc. Our state is discussing allowing elective surgeries beginning next week again. The problem with that is the PPE shortage and whether reopening those units is sustainable in current circumstances.

My role as a nurse educator straddles the line between clinical and nonclinical. I have no idea how it may impact things. There are whispers that everyone is going to have to start taking one day off per pay period, but that isn't confirmed and isn't a thing.....yet. I would be surprised, if the numbers they have told us are correct, if there are major cuts coming.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
1 hour ago, A Hit With The Ladies said:

My employer is a state university-affiliated hospital system, so I'm not worried about getting fired or losing hours in my nursing job. What I am a bit worried about is my pension. I'm paying into the Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS), and the one-two punch of the oil market collapsing and the Coronavirus-related economic recession is going to hit my state's finances very hard. I'm not at the five-year vesting mark yet and I'm worried how state politicians are going to look at the pension fund.

Maybe they'll look at them the same way republicans look at SS...they are predictable political animals

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neurosurgical ICU, Emergency, Psych, Art Therapy.

Hopkins even made this Youtube video...

smdh - I see leadership is wasting their time and resources making videos...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych.

From the video it looks like their leadership has instituted a pay freeze rather than actually cutting nurses' pay. If you're not vested in a pension program with an employer, or a new grad RN (read: not yet employable by others d/t your lack of experience), you may want to join or be actively discussing this with your labor union. Hospitals simply cannot function without adequate nursing staff. You have leverage as an experienced RN.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.

Executive salary cuts of 30% & voluntary furloughs. No mention yet, but I'm sure there won't be any annual raises for a year or 2.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neurology/Oncology.
23 hours ago, A Hit With The Ladies said:

My employer is a state university-affiliated hospital system, so I'm not worried about getting fired or losing hours in my nursing job. What I am a bit worried about is my pension. I'm paying into the Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS), and the one-two punch of the oil market collapsing and the Coronavirus-related economic recession is going to hit my state's finances very hard. I'm not at the five-year vesting mark yet and I'm worried how state politicians are going to look at the pension fund.

So, I guess you have the fellow nurses in your state to thank for that.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neurosurgical ICU, Emergency, Psych, Art Therapy.
On 4/23/2020 at 12:20 PM, A Hit With The Ladies said:

From the video it looks like their leadership has instituted a pay freeze rather than actually cutting nurses' pay. If you're not vested in a pension program with an employer, or a new grad RN (read: not yet employable by others d/t your lack of experience), you may want to join or be actively discussing this with your labor union. Hospitals simply cannot function without adequate nursing staff. You have leverage as an experienced RN.

I began working at JHH in 2018, and they had just ended their pension program. National Nurses United has been trying to start a union at JHH for a while now without much success. If we had a union set up before all of this, I really think things would be much different, but at this point JHH can take away whatever they want. They're not cutting nurses salaries, but they are supposedly reducing leadership salaries 5-20%. What is 5-20% of a salary we don't have full disclosure about? How do they decide who gets 5% deductions and who gets 20% deductions? It's just a really sleazy reaction to a nationwide catastrophe and it's very disappointing the way they've handled it so far. They even had our managers lock up cleaning wipes bc they claim staff has been stealing them, so in order for us to wipe down our stations we have to ask to get into a locked office for cleaning supplies...

2
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych.

It's shocking to me that such a world-renowned institution like Johns Hopkins would end up so sleazy against their nursing staff.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion