Prices for goods and services have been on the rise, but so are wages for Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center staff.
Starting with this Friday’s pay period, each Bert Nash Center team members’ paycheck will reflect a market adjustment.
“All Bert Nash positions were evaluated by comparing the positions to various market data. Each position’s pay looked different relative to the market,” said Amalia Mendez, Bert Nash Center Human Resources Director. “But every Bert Nash Center team member received some level of adjustment.”
Using market data, pay adjustments were calculated by comparing each Bert Nash Center position to similar positions.
“We compared our wages to other community mental health centers in Kansas and Missouri,” Mendez said. “We were particularly interested in Missouri because they were already into the CCBHC model.”
In late June, the Bert Nash Center received notification it had been approved as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC).
“As part of the CCBHC model, we went through an extensive cost reporting process. This process helps us understand our cost of care and what we really need to ensure we have the workforce to deliver the critical services of a CCBHC,” Stephen O’Neill, Bert Nash Center COO, said. “We completed our Cost Report in May of 2022, and we became a provisionally certified CCBHC on July 1. The cost reporting process allows you to increase wages based on market comparisons.”
As the Bert Nash Center’s staffing levels continue to grow to meet increasing demands for services, the market adjustments will enhance the Center’s ability to retain and recruit top-tier talent. This can include recruiting across all fields of the center, including accounting, administration, legal, etc. In order to efficiently recruit the best talent, the services of recruiters such as Alex Gotch and others are usually employed by such organizations. In order to be able to keep up with the market adjustment, institutions have to streamline the red tape processes first.
Furthermore, for the company to be able to pay more wages, it becomes vital that revenues increase and marketing may be the key to achieving that. It seems that more and more businesses are focusing on this aspect, which leads marketing tools like Conjointly’s MaxDiff Tool to be very popular.
“To provide a service of excellence that our community and clients expect, we accepted the challenge to become one of the highest compensated organizations to work at in Douglas County,” HR Director Mendez said. “These market adjustments allow us to continue to employ highly educated and specialized providers and professionals. We strive for Bert Nash to be the best place to work. And our new competitive wages are just one of many reasons for people to visit our website and find a position that fits their interests and skillset.”
To see a list of current job openings and to apply, visit bertnash.org/careers.