Arkansas Department of Human Services officials, from left, Thomas Tarpley, deputy director of the Division of Developmental Services, and and Melissa Weatherton, director of Specialty Medicaid Services, present proposals for bonuses to nurses who work with intellectually disabled individuals in state facilities to the ALC Personnel Subcommittee on Oct. 16, 2024. (Screenshot from legislative livestream)
Nurses who care for people with profound intellectual disabilities at seven Arkansas state-run facilities are eligible for $5,000 bonuses after a legislative panel approved a Department of Human Services proposal Friday.
The special compensation awards should be effective recruitment and retention measures for full-time “direct care” nurses at DHS’ seven facilities — the Arkansas State Hospital, the Arkansas Health Center and the five Human Development Centers — department officials told the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Personnel Subcommittee Wednesday.
The subcommittee approved the proposal, which was first presented to lawmakers on the Joint Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee in April. The full Legislative Council approved the subcommittee’s report Friday with no debate.
The cumulative totals for the one-time payments are projected to be $510,000 at the Human Development Centers, $467,000 at the Arkansas State Hospital and $283,000 at the Arkansas Health Center, according to documents DHS provided to the personnel subcommittee.
Existing employees will get the bonuses immediately while new employees would not. Even so, the bonuses should incentivize nurses to apply for open positions, said Kay Barnhill, director of the Office of Personnel Management in the state Department of Transformation and Shared Services.
Barnhill agreed with Melissa Weatherton, DHS Director of Specialty Medicaid Services, that the bonuses should help alleviate staffing shortages among registered nurses and licensed nurse practitioners at the facilities.
The state’s starting annual salary for a registered nurse is $63,830, Barnhill said.
Barnhill and Weatherton both said an upcoming revamp of state employees’ pay plan should result in higher pay for nurses at state hospitals.
“Once you get in the door, there’s really no mechanism, unless you move up a [pay] grade, to get additional compensation,” Weatherton said. “So it’s very important to us that we focus on giving the $5,000 right now to our current nurses in an effort to show our appreciation and to try to retain them as this interim step.”
The Legislature and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders approved higher pay for executive branch employees earlier this year, including a minimum wage hike and the possibility of special compensation awards.
DHS regularly hires traveling contract nurses, who are paid more than staff nurses, to provide services at some of the facilities, Weatherton said.
Traveling nurses were paid a total of $4.8 million at the Arkansas State Hospital, $4.2 million at the Arkansas Health Center and $3.24 million at the HDCs during fiscal year 2024, which ended June 30, Weatherton said.
Rep. Les Eaves, R-Searcy, said he supported using one-time bonuses as a retention incentive but also suggested that the state could increase the annual salaries of the seven facilities’ employees instead of spending so much money on traveling nurses.
The departments of Health and Veterans Affairs also use traveling nurses to meet their needs.
Members of the Legislative Council’s Review subcommittee on Monday also questioned whether the state should be using traveling nurses so frequently.
Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, the chair of the personnel subcommittee, said retaining DHS nurses via bonuses is “about more than just the pay, but also about the continuity of care for these clients.”