Wake County's largest hospital system plans to pay its more than 7,000 employees about $7.65 million in bonuses after beating annual financial goals.
WakeMed will hand out checks worth about 2 percent of workers' annual salaries on Dec. 3. The money will provide a small boost for the local economy, give families more to spend as the holidays approach and help WakeMed stay competitive with this region's other major health systems.
The UNC Health Care System recently paid bonuses worth about 2.5 percent of annual salaries to many of its 8,000 employees in Chapel Hill.
Local hospitals also gave raises in recent months, increasing salaries for more than 30,000 nurses, clinicians and other workers across the Triangle. Despite the recession and cuts spurred by the federal health overhaul, hospitals risk losing top employees if they don't keep pace with the market.
WakeMed officials notified employees of the bonuses this morning in its "Wake Street Journal" internal newsletter. The Raleigh-based hospital system also reported net income of $45.9 million for the fiscal year that ended in September and an operating margin of 2.23 percent, exceeding its budgeted goals.
In addition to operating margin, hospital officials base employees' bonuses on non-financial factors, including patient satisfaction scores and more. This year's total is more than last year's bonus pool of $6.3 million, but below 2007's total of $13.6 million.
It will be harder for WakeMed workers to get bonuses next year. The hospital recently hired an outside consultant to find ways to boost revenue and cut costs. The target operating margin for the current fiscal year is 4 percent.
Any bonuses will be based partly on making that mark, but also on workers washing hands at least 90 percent of the time they enter or leave a patient's room. A team of "secret shoppers" will be watching workers every month across the WakeMed system, which includes facilities in Cary, North Raleigh and more.
