Iowa is paying the staffing firm Favorite Healthcare $220 per regular hour and $330 per overtime hour for travel nurses who will work in healthcare facilities across the state, The Gazette reported Dec. 24.
The state is set to pay Overland Park, Kan.-based Favorite Healthcare Staffing more than $9 million to place 100 out-of-state nurses and respiratory therapists at 17 of its larger healthcare facilities over six weeks. The nurses arrived as early as Dec. 7, Sarah Ekstrand, spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Health, told the Gazette.
The rate was set with the expectation that the nurses will work 20 hours of overtime each week at the rate of $330 per hour, Ms. Ekstrand said. The contract equals more than $15,000 each week per nurse.
Favorite Healthcare pays the providers and also offers housing.
Editor's note: This article was updated Dec. 30 at 7:50 a.m. CT.