Since December 2025, the following hospitals and health systems have said they plan to raise their workers’ pay.
Editor’s note: This webpage was created Jan. 9 and is updated regularly. It was last updated May 22.
May
1. Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health raised its minimum wage to $18 an hour in May. The increase affects more than 4,200 workers across the health system and includes pay adjustments for employees earning less than $23 an hour and those in flat-rate positions paid below the new minimum.
2. Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals ratified their first labor contract, averting a five-day strike that was set to begin May 19 at Butler (Pa.) Memorial Hospital. The three-year agreement covers 235 employees, including surgical techs, respiratory therapists and radiology techs, and includes raises of at least 3% each year of the contract, according to the union.
3. Members of Northwestern Healthcare United at St. Albans, Vt.-based Northwestern Medical Center ratified their first labor contract after more than 14 months of negotiations, according to the St. Albans Messenger. The agreement raises the starting wage for registered nurses from $29 an hour to $34 to $36 an hour, the newspaper reported. The contract also includes provisions related to staffing, mandatory overtime and on-call scheduling.
“We came to a good compromise,” union bargaining team member Emily Millman told the Messenger. Interim CEO Jonathan Billings said in a statement shared with Becker’s that the agreement “positions us well to continue to care for our community.” The contract expires Nov. 20, 2028.
April
4. Members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East at Dunkirk, N.Y.-based Brooks-TLC Hospital System ratified a one-year contract extension. The agreement, which expires April 30, 2027, includes a 3.75% wage increase for union workers upon ratification, according to the union. Surgical technicians and licensed practical nurses also will receive an additional $2 per hour in base pay, while maintenance and security workers will receive an additional $1.25 per hour. Lab assistants also moved up a pay grade.
5. Kaiser Permanente employees represented by unions within the Alliance of Health Care Unions ratified 52 collective bargaining agreements across the Oakland, Calif.-based organization’s markets. The agreements, which cover more than 61,000 employees, include a 21.5% wage increase over four years that Kaiser Permanente first proposed in October 2025. With step increases and other factors included, employees will see average wage growth of about 30% over the life of the contracts, according to the health system.
6. Registered nurses at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass., ratified a new labor contract. The deal includes improved staffing grids, wage increases of 4.25% in 2025, 3.5% in 2026 and 3% in 2027 and 2028, and a new pay scale, with many nurses expected to earn an additional $15,000 to $20,000 over the life of the contract, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
7. Members of the New York State Nurses Association at Westchester Medical Center-HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston, N.Y., part of Valhalla, N.Y.-based WMCHealth, ratified a new labor contract. The contract includes wage increases ranging from 16% to 33% over the life of the agreement, according to the union.
March
8. Registered nurses at six Tenet Healthcare facilities in California ratified a new three-year labor contract. The agreement includes a dedicated rapid response nurse at every facility and a guaranteed minimum orientation for new nurses, wage increases from 11% to 18% over three years and no takeaways to healthcare benefits, according to the California Nurses Association.
9. Little Rock-based University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is raising its minimum wage from $15 to $16 per hour, effective April 12. The increase will affect about 1,800 employees across 75 positions.
10. New Orleans-based Ochsner Health is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, effective May 31. The change will affect more than 3,000 workers, including, full-time, part-time and pro re nata employees.
11. New Orleans-based LCMC Health is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, effective April 5. The change affects about 2% of employees, according to the health system. More than 400 employees will see pay increases, primarily in essential support roles across the organization’s hospitals and clinics.
12. Durham, N.C.-based Duke University and Duke University Health System is raising its minimum wage for eligible employees to $20 per hour, effective July 1. The change affects more than 4,000 employees who will receive a direct pay increase, according to the health system. Additionally, approximately 9,000 employees whose wages are currently near the new minimum will receive an additional wage adjustment tied to tenure and years of service.
February
13. Members of the New York State Nurses Association ratified agreements with Montefiore Health System, Mount Sinai Health System and NewYork-Presbyterian. The contracts include salary increases of more than 12% over three years, improved staffing standards and workplace protections, according to the union.
14. Nurses at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa., ratified a three-year labor contract. The agreement covers 630 registered nurses at the 373-bed hospital. It includes base wage increases of up to 17% over three years and higher shift differentials for evening, night, weekend and pool nurses, according to the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents the workers.
15. Members of the Michigan Nurses Association at Beacon Kalamazoo (Mich.) Hospital ratified a new labor contract. The agreement covers 378 nurses at the hospital and includes a 14% total raise over three years, plus incentive pay for extra shifts, according to the union.
16. Registered nurses at nine Appalachian Regional Healthcare facilities across Kentucky and West Virginia ratified a three-year contract extension. The agreement covers more than 700 nurses and runs from May 1, 2026, through April 30, 2029. It includes wage increases for all nurses — including step increases and cost-of-living adjustments each year — with an average increase of nearly 10% over three years, as well as holiday pay for nurses regardless of shift, according to the National Nurses Organizing Committee.
17. Registered nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., ratified a new three-year labor agreement covering more than 2,200 nurses. The contract, which will run from March 2026 through February 2029, includes wage increases of nearly 24% over the life of the agreement, according to National Nurses United.
18. Members of the Washington State Nurses Association ratified a new labor contract with Seattle Children’s. The agreement includes market-based adjustments to the wage scale that raise average wages by 15% by March 2028, according to the union. Individual nurses are expected to see an average wage increase of more than $13 per hour over the life of the agreement.
January
19. Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals ratified a new labor contract with San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare. The four-year agreement covers about 5,700 registered nurses and includes base pay increases of 5% in the first year and 4% in each of the three subsequent years, according to the union.
20. Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health is investing $776 million in workforce compensation this year, marking one of the largest single-year compensation increases in the organization’s history. As part of the effort, a unified $18.85 minimum wage takes effect Jan. 30 across the system’s six-state footprint, covering roles such as environmental services technicians, food service assistants, and patient and equipment transporters.
21. Baton Rouge, La.-based FMOL Health is implementing a systemwide market compensation adjustment and raising its minimum wage to $15 per hour across all markets. The system said the changes follow an analysis of thousands of roles across the health system, using national and regional data to benchmark positions against competitive rates from comparable organizations.
22. Members of Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania at Geisinger Lewistown (Pa.) Hospital approved a new labor contract. The agreement, which runs from Jan. 15, 2026, through Nov. 14, 2028, covers 160 workers and includes total wage increases ranging from 9.25% to 20%, a ratification bonus of up to $700 and improvements to workplace safety, scheduling, and on-call processes, according to the union.
23. Members of the Michigan Nurses Association ratified a new labor contract with Aspirus Ironwood Hospital. The contract maintains a wage structure that rewards experience and guarantees annual across-the-board raises, according to the union.
24. Hundreds of nurses represented by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania approved a new labor contract with UPMC Altoona (Pa.). The agreement, which covers 500 nurses, includes an average wage increase of more than 18% over three years, with a maximum raise of more than 27%, according to the union.
25. Members of the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee at Portland-based Maine Medical Center approved a three-year labor contract. The agreement includes a 21% wage increase over the life of the deal, according to the union.
26. Renton, Wash.-based Providence is committing more than $600 million in merit and market adjustments for staff in 2026. The health system, which employs 125,000 caregivers across 51 hospitals, 1,014 clinics and a range of health and social services in seven states, announced the investment as part of its strategic overview.
December 2025
27. Emergency medical services workers at University Hospital in Newark, N.J., ratified their first labor contract as a distinct collective bargaining unit represented by Teamsters Local 97. The contract includes “improved wages and benefits to account for the increased cost of living in the area, as well as better vacation and holiday pay,” according to the union.
28. Daviess Community Hospital in Washington, Ind., is investing $1.6 million in employee wage increases. The initiative includes raising the inpatient registered nurse pay scale from $33 to $45 per hour, along with other systemwide adjustments.
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