Catholic health system raises minimum wage to $10 an hour

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - A Peoria, Illinois-based Catholic health system with hospitals in Illinois and Michigan, is raising its minimum wage to $10 an hour.

OSF HealthCare announced the move Thursday. Nearly 500 employees will benefit when the new minimum wage takes effect Nov. 22. Most of them work in food service, housekeeping, gift shops and guest services.

The health system is owned and operated by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. It runs 11 hospitals, two colleges of nursing, a doctors group and a network of home health services.

Currently, OSF HealthCare follows state minimum wages. In Illinois, that's an hourly wage of $8.25. Michigan's minimum hourly wage is $8.15.

OSF HealthCare board chair Sister Judith Ann Duvall says raising the minimum raise "is the right thing to do."