Dallas healthcare system raises minimum wage…and you won’t believe where the money came from!

A healthcare system in Dallas will raise the minimum wage of all hospital employees to $10.25 an hour, and will fund the pay increase with money originally set to be used for executive bonuses.

The change will give around 230 employees of the Parkland Health & Hospital System a raise next month, according to ModernHealthcare.com. The lowest paid worker in the system currently receives $8.78 per hour.

The increase will cost the system around $350,000 per year, and is reported to be taken from the bonus pool of the company’s 60 vice presidents and top executives. That pool contains between $3 million and $5 million for the year.

“We really want, in any way possible, to break down any gaps or anything between the top leaders and those who are closest to our patients,” Dr. Jim Dunn, executive vice president and chief talent officer at Parkland, told ModernHealthcare.com. “We feel like it’s the right thing to do.”

News of the wage increase comes amidst significant political turmoil in Washington over the current federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour. While at this point there are no plans to raise that amount, President Obama signed an executive order in February to raise the minimum wage of all federal contract workers to $10.10.

Parkland’s action falls in line with other companies voluntarily raising their minimum wage outside federal government mandates, and some states and other municipalities also have raised the minimum wage in their area. Will hospitals raising wages lead to better workers and work environments? Let us know how you think similar moves might affect your workplace!