Alteon Health, one of the largest medical staffing companies in the U.S., reversed its decision April 5 to cut pay and retirement benefits for its physicians and other medical workers, according to ProPublica.
Last week the company released a memo saying it would halt bonuses and paid time off for workers, cut pay for medical directors by 20 percent and suspend 401(k) contributions. It also said it would reduce hours for clinicians.
The decision to cut pay and benefits was to help offset revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the company is reversing course on several of the cost reduction strategies. Alteon Health said it will no longer cut medical directors' pay by 20 percent and will still offer paid time off.
Alteon still plans to defer matching 401(k) contributions for now, but it won’t eliminate those contributions altogether, according to ProPublica.
Executives will still take a 25 percent pay cut; and Alteon will still convert salaried employees to hourly pay. In addition, some workers still will see reduced hours.
Alteon Health said its decision to not go through with some pay and benefits cuts is because it is continually reevaluating a fast-moving and unprecedented situation, according to the report.
“The significant changes in patient visits and behavior patterns are creating disruption for the healthcare system and our community at large," Steve Holtzclaw, Alteon Health's CEO, wrote in an email to employees obtained by ProPublica. "Our guiding principle as we manage through this situation is that we will concentrate resources and pay on those that are fighting coronavirus, that we act nimbly in response to the environment, and that we incorporate the latest information available to us."