FORT HALL — As life begins to return to normal at Portneuf Medical Center following the latest COViD-19 surge, the local hospital is rewarding staff for their prolonged sacrifices with market raises and annual service bonuses.

Jordan Herget, CEO of PMC, discussed the state of the Pocatello-based hospital Friday during a Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel and Event Center.

Herget noted Gov. Brad Little has marked April 15 as the end of a statewide emergency declaration for COVID-19. Furthermore, Herget said the hospital has had zero COVID-19 patients admitted on several days during the past few weeks.

It’s welcome relief following an exceptionally tough two-year period, during which staff have worked longer hours and picked up extra shifts, he said.

“Staff got into the industry to heal and they’ve seen a lot of mortality. Staff have been burdened. They’ve been asked to do so much. They’ve been asked to do extra, so we wanted to make sure we were rewarding them,” Herget said.

PMC has been conducting market analyses for most positions, comparing local wages against at surrounding hospitals and other comparably sized medical centers. Herget said the first 300 staff members’ wages were evaluated and market adjustments above regular merit raises were issued prior to the end of 2021. Another group of about 550 positions will be evaluated and adjusted before the end of this month, Herget said. Those two groups represent about 60 percent to 70 percent of staff, he said.

Since the start of this year, PMC has also been giving staff annual service awards on the anniversary of each worker’s hiring date, Herget said. Herget explained the awards are calculated by multiplying a worker’s base wage rate by years of service. The hospital had previously offered the awards every five years.

PMC has also expanded a student loan repayment program, as well as a tuition assistance program.

“Health care workers are truly heroes and we salute those at PMC and in the industry,” Herget said.

With COVID-19 rates falling, the hospital has set a goal of eliminating all of its traveling nurse positions, Herget said. Herget explained PMC had very few traveling nurses prior to the pandemic, but they were needed after the arrival of COVID-19 to temporarily fill gaps while the hospital sought to fill permanent staff positions. Traveling nurses typically fill about 13-week assignments, he said.

Several PMC nurses have contacted the Journal with complaints about the additional traveling nurses, arguing they are often offered better wages to lure them here and, in many cases, are far less productive.

The nurses also told the Journal they would like to be involved in drafting a staff retention plan. They’d also like the hospital to improve its patient-to-nurse ratios and to allow more flexible use of sick time. The nurses requested that an employee satisfaction survey be conducted and released to all staff.

In general, however, Herget believes the new incentives have been well received and should help with both recruitment and retention. Throughout the past two years, Herget said PMC has added 350 new staff members and 30 doctors to accommodate both increased demand during the pandemic and growth.

Looking ahead, Herget said PMC expects to occupy a new 19,000-square-foot medical office building within the Northgate Development by this fall. The Portneuf Health Trust bought the land and is building the facility.

During his speech, Herget also addressed several recent accomplishments made by PMC and described the considerable impact the hospital has on the community.

PMC was recently honored with Ardent Health Services’ Quality Award. PMC partners with Idaho State University and the Family Medicine Residency. The hospital also works with ISU on the new University of Utah psychiatry residency.

Herget emphasized that the hospital has a $117.5 million payroll and contributes $2.6 million in property and sales tax to the community.