Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox announced what it called a major enhancement to its employee compensation which will impact nearly all of its workers.

The adjustments, which took place last week, include an early merit increase, a $15 an hour minimum wage and market-based wage increases in all totaling nearly $10 million, according to a news release.

“This is an investment in our most valuable resource: the people who choose to work at our hospital,” Silver Cross Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Ruth Colby said in a statement. “They take such wonderful care of our patients and our community. This is our way of saying ‘your hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. We appreciate you; we care about you, and we thank you.’”

The merit increase, which is traditionally given each December, is two months ahead of schedule this year and is guaranteed to all employees who began working by July 1.

Colby added that Silver Cross has recruited more than 700 employees over the past year, a significant number of which are nurses.

“Retaining and recruiting the very best employees is one of our top priorities,” she said in the release.

Silver Cross operates a 300-bed acute care hospital and 10 satellite facilities providing outpatient services and physician offices. It employs over 4,500 workers.