Lasata to target staffing ‘crisis’ with wage hike

To help Ozaukee County’s Lasata Senior Living Campus be more competitive in hiring and retaining health care workers, the County Board earlier this month approved a plan that would raise their wages 6%.

Staffing the county nursing home facility has long been a challenge, but it has worsened over the last year due to the effects of Covid-19, Lasata Administrator Amanda Kohal told supervisors.

“We were in crisis, even before Covid,” Kohal said. “Studies showed Lasata was not competitive” on salaries and benefits.

Since the onset of Covid earlier this year, health care workers at Lasata, such as certified nursing assistants, or CNAs, have been drawn away by better offers at other facilities, restrictions that bar them from working at Lasata if they also work at another facility, higher unemployment benefits and lack of transportation to the Cedarburg campus.

As a result, Lasata has had to resort to hiring staff through employment agencies, which has increased operational costs significantly, Kohal said.

CNAs hired through an agency cost Lasata an average of $28.28 per hour compared to the $16.53 average wage paid to staff CNAs, she said.

That means from March through September, Lasata paid out $185,676 for agency CNAs, $186,180 in overtime and $47,610 in shift bonuses.

A 6% wage increase would mean an additional dollar per hour for CNAs, health unit coordinators and personal care workers.

The pay hike would affect 105 current Lasata employees, she said.

Kohal said she hopes to expand it to other workers in the future, including dietary staff.

“To me it only makes sense we increase that wage so we can hire our own staff,” she said.

County Administrator Jason Dzwinel told supervisors he was in favor of the wage increase and that it would not affect the 2021 tax levy.

“This was being discussed prior to Covid. We’re comfortable with the recommendation. There is no financial risk for the county,” he said.

Kohal said that by increasing wages and promoting benefits the county already offers, she could induce some current part-time workers to increase their hours. For instance, workers who average 20 hours per week are eligible for paid time off.

In addition, staff who work nights or on weekends earn an additional $2 per hour.

“What I’m trying to do is offer them a more competitive wage and then work more hours so they can access those benefits. My goal is to attract and retain quality candidates,” she said.

The wage increase means Lasata will offer a “near equivalent wage to agency employees,” which might be an incentive for them to join Lasata as regular staff.

Kohal said her goal over the next six months is to reduce the use of agencies by 50%, reduce turnover by 25%, improve retention by 25% and fill 20 of 47 CNA openings.

By improving pay and benefits, Kohal said her hope is to attract more workers from Cedarburg and nearby communities for whom transportation and daycare is less of an issue.

Many current Lasata employees come from Milwaukee or other distant communities, she said.

“Ultimately my goal is to compete,” she said. “We need to do something to get the word out that this is a great place to work.”

She pointed out other county retirement facilities and health care operations offer benefits such as hiring bonuses, “loyalty” bonuses and tuition reimbursement for continuing education.

Sheboygan County’s Rocky Knoll Health Care Center near Plymouth also offers onsite day care.

Kohal is partneering with the state WisCaregiver Career Program, which will enlarge the pool of potential hires and through which the county will offer a $500 bonus for new employees who stay on six months after they are hired.

She also plans on creating a referral bonus for employees who bring others into Lasata.

Supervisors said they were hopeful the moves would help increase the workforce.

“I totally agree with what you want to do and I think it’s something we have to do,” Supr. Kathy Geracie said.

“I think once the word gets out, we will have people coming to us,” Supr. Lew Herro said.

Lasata Finance Manager Chris Kuemmerlein said she thought improving pay and benefits would also bring back some former Lasata employees who left for better pay.

“I think we’ll be able to get some of those people back,” she said.