| By Big Radio News Staff |
Rock County pays out $72 an hour when staffing agency nurses are on duty at Rock Haven.
The county board’s Health Services Committee requested the rates the county-run nursing home pays Zeal Clinical Staffing to provide registered nurses at the facility.
An invoice presented at the committee’s meeting Wednesday showed a $72 hourly rate on Dec. 30 and a time-and-a-half rate on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Board Supervisor Kathy Schulz of Janesville wanted to know the agency nurses’ take-home pay, but Rock Haven Administrator Natalie Rolling-Edlebeck says the county doesn’t know that number.
Assistant director of nursing Marilyn Burns says anecdotally, those nurses do make more than Rock Haven’s in-house staff, though the latter receive benefits the agency nurses do not.
A separate committee working on the future of Rock Haven is also looking into chronic short-staffing issues. One proposal under consideration is converting part-time nurses to full-time ones to increase the effective staff headcount.
