Nurses at Denver Health have been paid unfairly. Denver Health has been cutting corners and reducing pay for their nurses for the organizations financial gain and profit prior to COVID-19. In addition, during this difficult time, Denver Health has not provided their employees financial assurance, job security or hazard pay as they fight to save lives.  

Prior to COVID-19, nurses at Denver Health have been underpaid. The average wage to live comfortably in Colorado state according to a Business Insider is $74,215. The average nurse makes $60,000. Here are a few examples:

• Cost of living raises were removed and considered “a privilege not a right” (per CEO Robin Wittenstein)
• No sick pay
• New graduates are paid under $30/hour
• Maximum of 1-2% annual salary increases
• Earning potential is capped at $43.92/hour
• A total of one break (30 minute unpaid) per 12.5 hour shift

According to CBS News, during this pandemic, Denver Health’s CEO Robin Wittenstein sent an email notifying staff that their goal was to reduce total salary expenses with their employees taking the bulk of the hit. Many of their nurses simply cannot afford this and have become the sole financial provider for their household in the recent months.

On top of eliminating education and tuition reimbursement for mandatory medical training, employees were asked to:

• Use PTO
• Reduce normal work week hours/FTE
• Voluntarily leave without pay

Food for thought: Denver Health executives were paid out bonuses for performance in 2019 one week after asking employees to take cuts. The Denver Health CEO asked all employees to make sacrifices. As most organizations are making drastic changes, such as reducing executives pay by 10-20%, the CEO’s contribution was to not accrue PTO for 3 months.

Per CBS’s article, here are the payouts:

• Robin Wittenstein, CEO - $230,275 bonus on top of $967,155 salary
• Connie Price, Chief Medical Officer - $95,792 bonus
• Scott Hoye, General Counsel - $78,174 bonus
• Michelle Fournier-Johnson, Chief Human Resources Officer - $65,012
• Robert Borland, Chief Marketing and PR Officer - $53,406 bonus
• Amy Weiss, Chief Experience Officer - $40,588 bonus