GRAND RAPIDS — Due to the financial strain of COVID-19 pandemic, Spectrum Health is planning to cut pay for those in leadership roles and eliminate some positions that don't deal with patient care.
Officials say impact of the virus will affect their revenue for the rest of the year, but are still committed to serving the community.
“Our team members have done an outstanding job of rising to the challenges presented by COVID-19, and to help take care of the community we serve. I could not be more proud of our team,” said Tina Freese Decker, president & CEO, Spectrum Health. “None of us would have chosen to be in this COVID-19 storm and experiencing this level of disruption, but we must adapt. We are making very difficult decisions that will reshape our organization going forward. We will maintain our unwavering commitment to high-quality patient care and innovative health insurance products—offering value in ways that matter most to people, such as affordability, convenience and personalization.”
Here are some of the temporary plans moving forward:
- Executive compensation: Tina Freese Decker, President & CEO, will take a 40% reduction in pay. Her direct leadership team will take a 30% reduction.
- Executives are donating surplus paid time off (PTO) to the organization’s Close Enough to Care fund to help team members in need of extra PTO.
- Matching contributions to employee retirement accounts will be stopped from July through December.
- Aggressively reducing expenses and prioritizing what must be done in 2020.
“Our job is to act responsibly and lead for the long-term so that Spectrum Health is able to serve our communities for years to come,” said Freese Decker.
