Not only is the healthcare industry the fastest growing nationwide in terms of jobs, it pays its employees pretty well too.
In the list of Fortune magazine’s 25 top-paying companies nationwide, where the most common salaried jobs were compared, the healthcare sector held its own by taking three spots, including the no. 1 position. The list is derived from Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.
The top spot was nabbed by Southern Ohio Medical Center, a regional hospital in Portsmouth, where the average total pay of a physician is $490,647. Here’s how Fortune characterized the company’s compensation:
Southern Ohio sweetens the pot by matching employees’ 401(k) contributions 100% up to 2% of salary and by offering perks such as its SOMC Adventures, which include New York shopping sprees, Caribbean cruises, visits to Amish country, and dinner trips.
The company also pays generously for professional development as part of a grow-your-own philosophy: Southern Ohio reimburses tuition not only for employees, but also for their family members. Internal candidates always get first dibs on open positions for which they are qualified. The proof is in the personnel: 31 of the hospital’s 32 directors rose up from hourly staff positions.
Scripps Health, the non-profit health system in San Diego, home to famous cardiologist Eric Topol, ranked no. 16 on the list with managers/directors getting an average total pay of $133,265. Fortune described Scripps Health’s largesse like this:
Since 2007, the health system operator’s “Success Shares” program — based in large part on patient satisfaction scores — has paid out $26.7 million in bonuses — $8.9 million of which were in 2010. Right before the holidays last year, managers handed out PayDay candy bars — along with checks averaging nearly $800 apiece.
Scripps closely monitors its salaries against industry trends. The company has invested $25 million to bring its salaries in line with market benchmarks (and for merit increases). Registered nurses there make nearly $91,000 as a base salary, plus nearly $18,000 in additional cash compensation on average. The number of nurses who made $100,000 or more doubled in 2010.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The final healthcare entity on the list is Morristown, New Jersey-based Atlantic Health System, also a non-profit hospital network, where the average total pay of a manager is $121,891. Fortune described its compensation policy like this:
Registered nurses can make more than $90,000 with overtime and shift differentials. Managers earn nearly $122,000 — with salaries set to rise regularly based on merit and industry benchmarks.
Atlantic provides a health care plan for its employees and their dependents that includes pharmacy, dental, vision, and even expensive in-vitro fertilization. A new mother can have all her maternity visits, the delivery of the child, and all hospital costs covered for a one-time fee of just $15. Every hospital has onsite childcare and early-education programs for employees’ kids.
Under the company’s pension plan, the longer an employee stays with Atlantic, the higher the percentage of annual salary is added to his or her account balance.
The one thing common to all three of the healthcare firms of course is that they are all non-profits, thereby challenging the notion such organizations will always pay less than their for-profit counterparts.
[Photo Credit: Salvatore Vuono]
