25-03-2025
MaineHealth asks lawmakers to alter equal pay law to entice specialists to rural hospitals
Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine. (File photo)
An obstetrics and gynecology doctor left Franklin Hospital in Farmington for a job out of state that offered higher pay. A hospitalist, an ear, nose and throat doctor and two orthopedists also recently declined offers at Waldo Hospital in Belfast all citing low pay.
These are just some examples of the hiring challenges rural hospitals are facing, which brought Katie Fullam Harris, chief government affairs officer with MaineHealth, before the Legislature's Labor Committee Tuesday to ask that its members support a change to the state's equal pay law.
'So the gist of it is you'd like to pay people more money but you're afraid you're going to be in violation of Maine wage laws?' asked Sen. Dick Bradstreet (R-Kennebec).
Answering in the affirmative, Harris said MaineHealth wants the flexibility to offer a candidate who could fill a specialist position higher base pay to move to Norway, for example, or some other rural corner of the state where the organization has had trouble recruiting.
Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) introduced LD 898 as a vehicle to address hiring challenges at rural hospitals, while staying true to the intention of the state's equal pay law, which is in part to close the gender pay gap. Specifically, the proposal would amend the law to allow pay differentials based on geographic location and credentials.
Under current law, MaineHealth has to pay an oncologist in Portland the same it pays an oncologist in Farmington. This bill would allow for a scenario in which the organization could offer a higher base salary to the Farmington physician because it's much harder to convince people to work there than in southern Maine, Harris explained.
The Maine Department of Labor had planned to oppose the bill, said legislative liaison Dillon Murray, who instead asked for more time to consider after learning more about the intention behind the change. In general, Murray said the department wants to be cautious with any changes made to the state's equal pay law.
Committee members asked Harris if the healthcare organization could use bonuses or other forms of compensation such as housing or transportation stipends to make offers in rural areas more attractive.
But those aren't the barriers keeping specialists from rural hospitals, she said. Rather, 'we have been told over and over again that the reason that we're being turned down for these positions is because we cannot offer compensation that is adequate.'
The committee also asked a series of questions about the potential of this bill leading current employees to seek raises. However, Harris said the intention is rather to target specialist positions, which are limited.
Harris said this would also address situations where a candidate has more credentials or experience compared to others in that position and wants to be compensated as such but can't under current law.
For example, Harris said a family medicine physician who had additional training in palliative care declined an offer because MaineHealth couldn't offer higher compensation for that training beyond what other family medicine physicians in the organization are paid.
The Maine State Chamber of Commerce also voiced its support for the bill at the hearing Tuesday.
The labor committee also held public hearings for two bills looking to adjust aspects of the state's minimum wage law.
A 2016 citizens referendum required the state minimum wage be adjusted every year based on the cost of living index. However, LD 206, introduced by Sen. Jeff Timberlake (R-Androscoggin) along with several Republican co-sponsors, would do away with those annual adjustments and set the minimum wage to its current rate of $14.65.
Alternately, legislation from Rep. Valli Geiger (D-Rockland) would replace the minimum hourly wage with a county-based living wage.
Starting in 2026, LD 853 would divide the state's counties into three regions and replace the statewide minimum hourly wage with a wage based on the cost of living in those regions using data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator.
The committee also heard arguments for and against LD 941, which would require employers to disclose wage salary ranges in job postings.
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