Oklahoma Hospital Education and Research Institute

PROJECT PURPOSE

ARPA allows for premium pay for health care workers. This project will reward two retention premium payments (pay on top of hourly rate) to hospital employees who have provided care in support of pandemic efforts, have not left their community hospital for higher paying staffing agencies and have remained loyal to a hospital for six months. While the payments would be less than what a health care professional would receive from a staffing company, they would be a show of appreciation by the state for loyalty. Agency staff are not eligible for consideration. Loyal employees who are on a hospital payroll as of Oct. 1, 2021, will receive two payments: one upon award of the grant and another six months later, providing they are still employed. (See schedule on attached document.) Based on a survey offered to all hospitals, but returned by 89, 34,531 employees would benefit. Hospitals not completing the survey will not be eligible for distribution. Disbursement could be managed by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority or the OHA. Eligible hospitals would attest on the application form for each disbursement. Approximately $187,000,000 would be required to fund this project. Several other states have done similar programs.

EVIDENCE

Throughout this pandemic, hospitals have seen workers, especially health care professionals, being recruited for higher pay by staffing agencies. The OHA has conducted several staffing surveys on behalf of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. As of the latest survey (August, 2021), hospitals have 200 fewer beds staffed from previous survey due to workforce shortages, especially nurses. While this proposal would not be equal to what employees may be able to make at a staffing company, this additional premium pay would demonstrate appreciation by the state of Oklahoma to employees who have remained at their existing hospital providing for the community needs.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Hospital employees are most vulnerable due to their working conditions taking care of COVID positive patients. No industry has been more adversely impacted than employees at hospitals, both professionally and personally. Because this is a highly contagious virus, taking care of COVID patients or being in the hospital setting puts hospital employees at risk for exposure. Hospital employees have taken extraordinary precautions to prevent spread to patients, family, and the community at large. All 89 hospitals completing the OHA survey will be eligible to receive this funding and pass this through to eligible employees as retention premium payments. In turn, this additional premium payment would stimulate the local economy as goods and services are purchased. Administrative personnel, physicians, and dentists, as well as staffing companies, are excluded from consideration of the retention bonus payments. Eligible job descriptions are listed in supporting document.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

The first allocation of funding would be based upon reporting by 89 hospitals completing the survey asking for direct and indirect employee numbers who provided care to COVID 19 patients as of October 1, 2021. The second award would be for those employees at those 89 hospitals who are still employed 6 months later. Hospitals would be ask to attest on a form that the report is truthful and based upon auditable numbers. Payroll information and staffing assignments would be the basis for determining allocation of funding to the hospital which would be paid to eligible employees.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

One-time project will not need continued funding