Scripps Health Frontline Employees Receive Unexpected Financial Award to End 100th Anniversary Year

More than 14,500 Scripps Health employees are ending the year with a nice surprise — awards valued as high as $1,000 each in recognition of their dedicated work and in celebration of the regional health system’s 100th anniversary.

“As we wrap up our yearlong celebration of a remarkable milestone in Scripps’ history — the 100th anniversary of our founding in 1924 — we wanted to recognize our hourly employees who show the unwavering compassion and commitment that is the cornerstone of the care we provide to our community,” said Scripps President and CEO Chris Van Gorder.

The payouts, totaling $13.1 million, were delivered recently to all employees below the level of supervisor.

"We wanted to recognize our hourly employees who show the unwavering compassion and commitment that is the cornerstone of the care we provide to our community."

One of those employees, Scripps Coastal Medical Center Hillcrest patient services representative Mary Ula, emailed a note of gratitude for the award as soon as she received it.

“Your generosity to your employees means a great deal to us, and it is a great testament to the support and encouragement we have received in the 30 years that I’ve worked here,” she wrote. “I am proud to be part of such a wonderful organization, and I look forward to continuing to contribute to our shared success.”

Ula said that she saved part of her award and used the rest to help pay for Christmas gifts. “When my sister passed away earlier this year, I helped my nieces pay for her burial. So my spending for Christmas was going to be less than normal,” she said. “But the award came at the perfect time to help with gifts for my family.”

On Sept. 17, Scripps celebrated the anniversary of the opening exactly 100 years earlier of the small seaside hospital in La Jolla that grew into the Scripps Health system, which now includes five hospital campuses, 30 outpatient centers and clinics, and hundreds of affiliated physician offices throughout the region. That original hospital was made possible by the generosity of local philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. The health system would later include Mercy Hospital in San Diego, which was founded by another local visionary, Mother Mary Michael Cummings.

“Just as Ellen Browning Scripps and Mother Mary Michael Cummings — two determined and remarkable women — laid the foundations of Scripps Health and Scripps Mercy Hospital, respectively, more than 100 years ago, our employees continue their legacy and mission of healing here in San Diego today,” Van Gorder said. “The special anniversary awards that were paid out this month honor all that they do for Scripps and for our patients.”

The awards were part of $103.1 million in investments made by Scripps in its employees in 2024, which included a decision to get ahead of an anticipated future minimum wage increase in California by granting its employees the largest pay increase in the organization’s history.

Learn more about Scripps Health, an integrated health care system in San Diego, Calif.