More than 60 employees from East Ohio Regional Hospital recently approached the Martins Ferry Police Department with complaints, Police Chief Jerry Murphy told Becker’s.
Mr. Murphy said the department is looking into the complaints, which are about not getting paid, as well as unpaid insurance claims.
Employees were not paid as scheduled March 7, and hospital owner and CEO John Johnson, MD, told staff by email that the administration was “working hard to enable a disbursement to take place on or before” March 11. Employees remained unpaid as of March 17, and some continue working without being paid, according to The Intelligencer.
Mr. Murphy said his “heart goes out” to workers experiencing hardship. He also said the department has contacted the FBI about the reports and is looking to contact various entities to determine next steps.
Employees could view their most recently owed pay listed on the Paylocity app, the hospital’s payroll handler, but the pay had not shown up in their bank accounts, according to The Intelligencer. The next scheduled payday is March 21.
The most recent payroll delay follows other payroll delays that occurred at the hospital in August and December 2024. Hospital officials attributed the August delay to an issue with the bank that resulted in a delay in processing a wire transfer to payroll processor Paylocity and the December delay also to an issue with funds not being available to process.
“Paylocity is committed to ensuring timely and accurate payroll processing for all our clients. In this instance, the payroll was submitted to us after the recommended processing deadlines, which impacted the timing of employee payments,” the company said in a statement shared with Becker’s. “Despite the late submission, Paylocity worked diligently to process the payroll as quickly as possible, resulting in most employees receiving their pay within one to two business days.”
East Ohio Regional Hospital also recently notified employees that it would lay off “ancillary services” beginning March 14 to strengthen efforts to prioritize payroll disbursement.
On March 14, Mr. Oliver notified employees that it would begin voluntary layoffs, according to The Intelligencer.
Mr. Johnson did not immediately respond to the newspaper’s request for comment. Becker’s has reached out to the hospital and will update the story if additional information is received.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on March 19.
