Hospital Changing Pay of 250 Workers : Cuts: Some nurses and respiratory therapists at Huntington Memorial will no longer earn 80 hours pay for 72 hours of work.

More than 250 nurses and respiratory therapists at Huntington Memorial Hospital could face pay cuts of as much as $5,000 a year under a salary schedule revision that takes effect next month, hospital officials said.

The changes, contemplated since May, would affect 204 nurses and 51 respiratory therapists who work 12-hour shifts at the hospital on California Boulevard.

Those employees receive 80 hours pay for 72 hours of work, an industrywide recruiting device started in the early 1980s when hospitals faced a nursing shortage and problems retaining respiratory therapists, said Carol Bradley, vice president of nursing.

But in an era when all hospitals face increasing budget difficulties, and with Huntington last year incurring an $11-million deficit, the pay scale revisions could help the hospital recoup nearly $1.2 million annually, Bradley said.

In addition, she said, the revisions would place Huntington on a par with other Southern California hospitals that do not provide the extra pay. It would also end pay inequities between nurses receiving the extra money and the other 1,300 Huntington nurses who are paid only for hours worked.

In 1990, the hospital ended the practice of hiring new employees at the extra pay for 12-hour shifts, Bradley said. Currently, 140 nurses who work 12-hour shifts and 18 respiratory therapists do not receive the bonus.

“This step had to be taken to put the employees on a level playing field,” Bradley said.

Under the salary revisions, 12-hour employees earning the extra money will have three options: get a reduced paycheck of 72 hours pay for 72 hours of work, keep the paycheck the same by working a third, 12-hour shift every three weeks, or switch from a 12-hour schedule to an eight-hour schedule.

If the nurses opt for lower wages, their annual pay would be reduced by about $3,000 for beginning nurses and $5,000 for veterans, Bradley said. If all of the employees opt for reduced wages, the hospital could save $1 million annually.

Respiratory therapists would face average salary reductions of $4,500 annually for a savings of $186,000, said Deborah Kinsman, administrative director for respiratory and cardiology services.

Nurses affected by the salary changes have voiced their displeasure over the move, hospital officials said.

The nurses met Monday to discuss the pay cut. They think that they are being asked to work an additional eight hours for the same pay and that the hospital has reneged on a hiring contract, one nurse said.

But others think differently.

“Most of the eight-hour people felt it was unfair that people should be paid when they’re not working, when all the rest of us are paid for hours worked,” said one 11-year nursing veteran, who asked that her name not be printed for fear of reprisals from co-workers.

Before proposing the pay changes, the hospital surveyed other San Gabriel Valley hospitals and found that most ended the extra pay practice years ago.

Northern California hospitals pay the extra money. But many of them have nurses unions that negotiate pay rates, Huntington officials said. Huntington and most Southern California hospitals do not have nurses unions.