Unitek College staffers were amazed by a national Medicare study that revealed that Santa Cruz County hospitals have the highest labor costs in the country. I think most of us would have bet on San Francisco city, but it seems Santa Cruz nurses are paid even more.

The Medicare Wage Index study indicates that labor costs per patient in Santa Cruz County hospitals are 36 percent more than the national average. County health officials say that means higher medical costs and insurance premiums for patients (and more money for our grads, grin).

More…More…More… The study shows that nine of the top 10 regions with the highest hospital labor costs are in NorCal (I could have told you that, duh).

Nurses at Dominican Hospital in the city of Santa Cruz can earn from $83K to nearly $110K annual salary after five years of experience.

Just for reference, the nationwide average annual salary for a nurse is about $69 grand.

I wonder how many of our grads know this. Time for an alumni email blast, perhaps?