UR Medicine Home Care has announced that beginning in July, the agency will move to a $15 per hour minimum wage for personal care aides and other hourly positions.
Home Health Aides will have a starting rate of $15.50 per hour.
In February, the University of Rochester announced a two-phase plan to pay all hourly employees a minimum wage of $15 per hour by December 2022 as part of its support for the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI).
UR Medicine Home Care President and CEO Jane Shukitis said that the Finger Lakes region has experienced a shortage of home health aides for decades.
“It is very difficult for home-care agencies to increase wages, because payment rates simply do not cover the cost of providing care,” Shukitis said. “We have decided to raise these salary levels despite that, because our community needs home care workers to care for the most vulnerable members of the population more than ever. Home care aides are a critical part of our workforce, and they deserve to earn a livable salary for the important work they do.”
