Hospital: $2.5 million in retention funds doled out to employees in hard to fill jobs

Schneider Hospital announced that 237 employees received an extra bonus in paychecks as part of retention efforts of workers in critical and hard to fill positions.

Employees received $2.5 million in total on Aug. 25, which represented an initial installment from a $10 million grant, over a four-year period, from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill passed by the US Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in March 2021. The bill was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and sought to speed the United States’ recovery by addressing both the health and economic impacts of the pandemic.

Schneider Hospital Chief Executive Officer Tina M. Comissiong said in a prepared statement that the stimulus funds, distributed by Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. administration, targeted employees who have “specific positions that are difficult to recruit and retain.”

According to the statement, the retention incentive payment is different from a premium pay incentive payment the administration announced, and was distributed to employees who worked during “specified periods” of the COVID-19 pandemic.