Erlanger board OKs retirement plan for new employees

New hires at Erlanger hospital will get a "modernized" retirement plan, including a savings plan similar to a 401(k), instead of the combination pension-savings plan that current employees receive, under a resolution passed Thursday by hospital trustees.

"The work force of tomorrow has a desire (for) a more modernized approach ... where they can be more engaged, have real-time access to account balances and actually steer and drive their investments," Gregg Gentry, senior vice president of human resources, said at Erlanger's monthly board meeting.

For employees hired on or after July 1, the new plan would provide a base company contribution of 3 percent of an employee's income toward retirement, acting as a replacement of the hospital's traditional pension plan. In addition, current and new employees will continue to have the option of contributing to a savings plan, with a company match of 50 cents on the dollar up to 4 percent of the employees' annual earnings.

The retirement plan for all current employees, and those hired within the past year under the presumption they would get a pension, will not change, Mr. Gentry said.

Also at the meeting, board Chairman Charles Longer announced that attorney Aldous McCrory has stepped down from Erlanger hospital's board of trustees for "personal reasons."

"We are very grateful for Mr. McCrory's energetic contributions and participation" on the board of trustees, Dr. Longer said after the hospital's monthly board meeting. Mr. McCrory resigned from the board at the end of May, he said.

Mr. McCrory, who was appointed to the board by the Hamilton County Commission, was not present at the board meeting.

Erlanger's 11-member board is made up of four trustees appointed by the County Commission, four by the City Council and one each by Chancery Court judges, the Chattanooga and Hamilton County Medical Society and the legislative delegation. Dr. Longer said the County Commission is working on identifying a replacement for the trustee.

Also at the meeting:

* The board unanimously passed the hospital's final fiscal year 2010 budget, projecting a gain of $6.1 million for the year.

* Trustees gave final approval to $1.9 million purchase and installation of imaging equipment for the hospital's cardiac catheterization lab, which will replace a 14-year-old piece of equipment. The imaging technology is used to get detailed, digital images of the heart. The life expectancy on that equipment is typically 10 years, hospital officials have said.