Intermountain Well being is not providing grants to assist all front-line employees pay again their pupil loans, dealing a monetary blow to some Colorado nurses who have been relying on that cash.
Brendon Phillips, a nurse at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, mentioned he obtained one $5,250 fee final yr as a substitute of a signing bonus, and was relying on a second fee this yr. However in December he obtained an e-mail stating nurses and emergency medical technicians on the hospital not certified for assist repaying their pupil loans.
“It’s already fairly powerful to make ends meet with pupil loans,” Phillips mentioned, including that his funds already have been going to be tight this yr as a result of he anticipates lacking work whereas recovering from a surgical procedure. “I don’t suppose nurses ought to be those getting the blame for the hospital not making sufficient cash.”
Intermountain, a Utah-based well being system that bought the previous SCL Well being hospitals in Colorado in 2022, beforehand supplied as much as $10,500 over two years for workers to place towards their pupil loans. It known as this system “mortgage forgiveness,” although since Intermountain doesn’t personal staff’ loans, it was serving to pay them off, relatively than forgiving them.
Spokeswoman Sara Quale mentioned the choice to not supply the funds to as many staff this yr was a part of a means of “harmonizing” the advantages supplied at completely different amenities. Some staff in hard-to-fill jobs can nonetheless obtain these funds, and people who don’t qualify for assist repaying their loans can nonetheless make the most of monetary help from Intermountain in the event that they’re working towards a brand new diploma or certificates, she mentioned.
Along with Saint Joseph Hospital, Intermountain owns Lutheran Medical Middle in Wheat Ridge, Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, Platte Valley Hospital in Brighton, and St. Mary’s Medical Middle in Grand Junction.
In December, Kids’s Hospital Colorado additionally created waves amongst its workers with a plan to scale back its tuition help. The Aurora hospital reversed course and agreed to grandfather in staff already receiving tuition help, whereas making use of a decrease cap to these enrolling sooner or later.
Bethany Stoupine, a nurse at Saint Joseph Hospital, mentioned the mortgage funds have been a big think about her determination to take a job there in July. She had hoped to make use of the fee to zero out her remaining $5,000 in pupil loans this yr, however with out it, she’s going to have to carry off on plans to start out rising her financial savings.
She mentioned she additionally sees it as a part of a sample of society not supporting well being care employees.
“Scholar loans are very costly and with wages not matching the speed of inflation, I used to be actually relying on this stipend in my funds,” she mentioned.
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