Healthcare workers face severe workplace hazards during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Hazard pay for local healthcare workers is reasonable and necessary.  

Shelby County's health system is under stress from the COVID-19 Delta variant. Staffing shortages are our greatest threat and they are brought on in-part by out-of-state hospitals poaching local nurses and healthcare providers. In normal times Memphis healthcare workers make chronically less than their peers in similar sized cities. During COVID-19 this pay crisis for local healthcare workers is also a public health crisis.

The Federal American Recovery Plan (ARP) includes large dollar allocations for frontline and healthcare worker hazard pay, but also permits wide discretion by local governments. Given the availability of these funds, Shelby County and Memphis City are fully capable of and must prioritize healthcare workers pay to ensure community resilience against the Delta, Delta+, Lambda and future variants, by devoting some of those funds for healthcare worker premium pay of $13/hr over current pay.

Healthcare workers keeping Memphis safe and healthy should be among the highest paid in the nation, not the lowest. Our collective values demand that we address this crisis in healthcare worker pay, and the American Recovery Plan gives us the means to do exactly that.

All Shelby County Health Department Staff,  all Regional One staff, and all other public healthcare providers must be immediately given a $13/hr premium pay raise for all COVID-19 related and exposed work. Other local private healthcare facilities must make the same commitment, first using any ARP resources they have received and then also appealing to local City and County resources for further need.