BONUSES AIMED AT AIDING RETENTION.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LANCASTER - An Antelope Valley Hospital attorney raised questions about whether giving bonuses to employees might be an illegal gift of public funds.

But the hospital board went ahead and awarded the bonuses, ranging from $300 to $600 depending on employees' years with the hospital. Because of the attorney's warning, they called the money retention bonuses and said they will go to employees who promise to stay at least three months.

``We did it last year. We can do it again this year. The employees deserve it,'' board member Steve Fox said.

Expected to cost the hospital about $1 million, the bonuses come at a time when hospitals around the nation are struggling to attract nurses and other staff. Antelope Valley Hospital, in particular, has been locked for months in a struggle with nurses who want to unionize and complain about staffing levels.

Antelope Valley Hospital officials decided to grant the bonuses to all 2,000 employees after finishing the year with a $17.3 million surplus, while other Southern California hospitals are struggling.

The bonuses will be $300 for employees who have worked at the hospital less than five years, $400 for those who have worked five to nine years, and $600 for employees who have worked 10 or more years. Part-time employees get half those amounts.

The board had considered giving a flat bonus of $500 to every full-time employee, or bonuses based on salary, like last year, but decided to give bonuses that rewarded longevity as an incentive to employees to stay with the hospital.

As a public hospital, operated by an elected board, the hospital does not pay profits to shareholders, but must invest any surplus into improvements to equipment, facilities, services or employee pay.