Virginia Commonwealth University Health System is raising its minimum hourly wage from $12 to $15, the Richmond-based organization said Aug. 10. 

With America's projected physician shortage and the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to keep tabs on how physician compensation is evolving. 

The following health systems revealed plans in June, July and August about offering employees a bonus if they are vaccinated against COVID-19: 

Family medicine physicians saw the greatest average signing bonus offered to recruits among the five most requested medical specialties, according to Merritt Hawkins' "2021 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives." 

Physician assistants saw the greatest year-over-year increase to base salaries offered to recruits, according to Merritt Hawkins' "2021 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives." 

Amid a worker shortage and the latest COVID-19 wave, Little Rock-based University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is offering a $25,000 signing bonus for nurses, CNN reported Aug. 5.

Employees at St. John's Health in Jackson Hole, Wyo., can expect a 6 percent boost in wages.

New hires and employees of Holland (Mich.) Hospital will receive an extra $3 more per hour over the coming months as part of a new incentive program, the hospital said.

Iowa City-based University of Iowa Health Care said it is offering a one-time success-sharing payment to eligible employees in appreciation for their participation in various cost-saving initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A healthcare staffing firm is accused of not paying its workers for one month of work at Moore County Hospital District, a rural hospital in Duma, Texas, MedPage Today reported July 26.

MaineHealth will spend $61 million a year to increase employee pay, the Portland-based health system said July 21.

Kansas City, Kan.-based University of Kansas Health System is giving employees bonuses of $1,250 for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

DCH Health System in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is offering new nurses $15,000 sign-on bonuses, the health system told Becker's.

Gender disparities in both representation and salary are greatest among cardiology and gastroenterology, according to research published July 12 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Some physicians who staffed the emergency department at two hospitals in the LRGHealthcare network went unpaid for hundreds of hours they worked in April, Concord Monitor reported July 1. 

No association is found between hospital CEO compensation and the value scores received by the hospitals they oversee, according to a July 6 blog post in Health Affairs. 

Health systems are vying for critical medical talent with eye-popping sign-on bonuses, with at least one system offering $30,000 to nurses. Here are six considerations for the extenders and receivers of this early incentive. 

Centura Health in Centennial, Colo., said June 30 that it will provide employees up to the director level, as well as employed providers, a $500 appreciation bonus if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Aug. 13.

The following health systems revealed plans in June about offering sign-on bonuses or pandemic appreciation bonuses for workers:

Houston Methodist is offering $15,000 sign-on bonuses to nurses and $15,000 referral bonuses for employees.