Erlanger tile
Erlanger Hospital’s CEO Kevin Spiegel.Erlanger Health System officials are taking the next steps to phase out the hospital’s pension plan and shift employees into a new retirement savings plan.
The public hospital board’s budget and finance committee voted Monday to freeze the defined benefits plan this summer, and move all employees into a “modernized” retirement savings plan similar to a 401(k).
The resolution still has to go before Erlanger’s full board, which will meet Thursday.
Approximately 2,500 of the hospital’s 4,000 active employees currently participate in the pension plan. Erlanger spends about $13 million annually in contributing to its pension plan, said Gregg Gentry, the hospital’s Chief Administrative Officer.
The hospital – which is trying to recover financially from several years in the red – could save $44 million from the change over the next decade, Gentry said.