To fill staffing gaps, Memorial Hospital at Gulfport (Miss.) is offering inpatient nurses and registered nurses working in long-term care facilities a student loan repayment option, according to the Sun Herald.
The hospital, which announced the incentive Nov. 3, is offering student loan repayments of up to $20,000 to RNs for two-year contracts. This is in addition to other incentives such as tuition reimbursement, pay incentives up to $10,000 for RNs, pay incentives up to $7,500 for respiratory therapists and radiology techs, pay incentives for short-term contracts, and seasonal pay. Certain guidelines apply for some of the incentives.
"As the preeminent healthcare system for the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Memorial realizes that in order to recruit, retain and develop top talent, our health system must offer a competitive total rewards package in order to maintain our standing as the best in the region," Memorial Vice President of Human Resources Myron McCoo said in a statement to the Sun Herald.
Memorial, in a media advisory shared with Becker's, said it is hosting virtual and on-site job fairs on its main campus in Gulfport and at Memorial Hospital at Stone County in Wiggins, Miss.
A virtual job fair is scheduled for Nov. 8-11. In-person job fairs are scheduled for Nov. 12 at Memorial Hospital at Stone County and Nov. 16 at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport.
The job fairs come as the contracts for about 900 state-funded nurses serving at Mississippi hospitals expired Oct. 31.
More information on the job fairs and incentive programs is available here.