West Virginia ranks 40th for median RN pay; WVUM, Mon Health comment

Jan. 3—MORGANTOWN — West Virginia ranks 40th nationwide for median annual pay for registered nurses, according to a report in Becker's Hospital Review. We asked WVU Medicine and Mon Health was that number might mean for them.

First, a look at the numbers, derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

West Virginia's median pay is $74, 160.

Six states — California, Hawaii, Oregon, Alaska, Washington and New York — all have median pay above $100, 000, but all also have significantly higher costs of living than West Virginia.

Washington, D.C., ranks seventh, at $98, 970, and that plays a role in some of West Virginia's neighbor states.

Among our border states, Maryland — which falls mostly in the D.C. metro area, ranks 14th at $83, 850.The other four: Virginia, 22nd, $79, 900 ; Pennsylvania, 26th, $78, 740 ; Ohio, 33rd, $76, 810 ; Kentucky, $75, 800.

While West Virginia ranks below all of its neighbors, excluding Maryland, the difference is not huge — only $5, 740 between Virginia and West Virginia.

Eight states have median pay below $70, 000: North Dakota, Kansas, Tennessee, Iowa, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and South Dakota at the bottom at $62, 920.

Gregory D. Stoner, WVU Medicine vice president of Total Rewards, which oversees employee compensation, offered some perspectives from the hospital.

He said the Becker's list is a helpful data point. "WVU Medicine uses a lot of benchmarks, and we look at the market to establish what our market-based pay is."

The hospital also looks at internal equity (equal pay inside an organization, according to the Eddy HR Encyclopedia); and depending on job requirements, education and experience.

"We obviously want to ensure that we provide fair, equitable and market-competitive compensation packages, " he said.

Noting the differences among the highest states and our neighbors, Stoner said geography does make a difference. WVUM uses benchmarks to inform decisions, such as the cost of labor in its footprint. They also take into account what their West Virginia peers are offering as they all compete for the same talent.

Around West Virginia's borders are UPMC in Pittsburgh, Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore — near the Eastern Panhandle. In terms of competition with those systems, Stoner said, "We do take a look at that. It is possible depending on the roles that those markets may have different rates of pay, " and not just for nurses.

For nurses, he said, "our median rates compare favorably against what Becker's published."

At Mon Health, Chief Human Resources Officer Katie Davidson provided a statement in response to a request and some observations submitted by email.

She said, "Mon Health System is proud of the benefit and salary investments we make for our RNs and all colleagues, and have continued to do so annually, in spite of challenging financial times during COVID.

"We have a market-driven pay philosophy and review pay ranges every year to ensure we are competitive with similar sized healthcare organizations and cost of living in our region.

"We are proud to have been recently voted as Best Place to Work by WV Living, a recognition voted on by the people of West Virginia, and our 2023 Employee Engagement survey results indicated that Mon Health employees' perceptions of fair pay significantly outperform the National Healthcare Average."

Email: dbeard @dominionpost.com