Thousands of Carilion Clinic employees got some welcome news today: those who have been furloughed or seen their pay reduced since mid-April will soon be made whole again. In a video message to all Carilion workers, CEO Nancy Agee says the cutbacks, while painful, have helped the health system pull through, and as of September 13th, Carilion will restore full hours and full pay to all employees. Agee says patient volumes are now back to about 90 percent of pre-COVID levels. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
NEWS RELEASE: Roanoke, Va. (Aug. 28, 2020) — Following a mid-April announcement of reduced pay and furloughs, Carilion Clinic announced today that hours and base pay for all employees will be reinstated effective Sunday, Sept. 13. This comes in the wake of ramped up operations and improving financials for the system.
In March, Carilion proactively halted non-emergent services and procedures in an effort to protect the health and safety of patients, employees and the public in the early days of the pandemic. That pause in services lasted for nearly two months. During that time, Carilion had to respond to rapidly shifting operational needs, resulting in some pay cuts and furloughs. Since ramping up operations in May, patient volumes have gradually returned to a new normal at approximately 90% of pre-COVID levels.
“We’ve rallied together in so many ways to keep our community healthy and safe,” said Nancy Howell Agee, president and CEO of Carilion. “The tough decisions we made early on are helping us manage through very challenging financial consequences. As our finances improved, we began restoring hours and pay progressively.”
While the threat of the pandemic is still very real, the commitment of Carilion’s more than 13,000 employees bolstered the system’s response and ability to persevere through great uncertainty.
