‘The strength of our organization is our people,’ says president and CEO of Memorial Health System

More than 3,100 employees will see larger paychecks as minimum wage hike ripples through organization

SPRINGFIELD – Memorial Health System announced today (Thursday) that it is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour for jobs at its five hospitals and dozens of other health care locations in central Illinois.

The new pay rate will take effect this fall. Employees whose pay will be affected will receive a letter that will be mailed no later than Oct. 15 with full details, including their adjusted compensation.
An estimated 1,200 employees, or 14%, of the nonprofit health system’s workforce of nearly 8,500 people will see their pay go up to or slightly above $15 an hour. The increase will ripple upward to other roles in the health system as those compensation levels are adjusted, with more than 3,100 employees, or 37%, of the health system’s personnel receiving larger paychecks.

“The strength of our organization is our people,” said Ed Curtis, president and CEO of Memorial Health System. “Our colleagues provide our patients and their families with compassionate and expert care around the clock. They have shown their unwavering resiliency in the face of a global pandemic. This wage increase is one small way we can express our deepest gratitude for their dedication to those we serve.”

The minimum wage in Illinois is currently $11 an hour, and all Memorial Health System employees already earn more than that, health system officials said. The state’s minimum wage will increase incrementally until it peaks at $15 an hour in 2025.

The health system’s minimum wage increase will impact primarily entry-level positions across the organization. Those positions include patient care support staff, housekeeping, customer service, and food and nutrition staff.

“We need to retain and recruit the top talent in our service area,” said Dolan Dalpoas, interim chief human resources officer for Memorial Health System. “This minimum wage increase is one of the ways we can do that as part of a comprehensive compensation-and-benefits package. And it’s the right thing to do.”

Memorial Health System includes five hospitals – Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, Decatur Memorial Hospital, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville and Taylorville Memorial Hospital. The other sites of care that make up the health system are Memorial Physician Services, Memorial Behavioral Health and Memorial Home Services.