Akron Children's Hospital announced on Thursday that it would be raising the minimum wage to $15. 

That raise will go into effect on November 24 for current employees at campuses in Akron and Boardman and specialty care offices throughout the region. 

The increase will also apply to all future hires. 

"Our reason for doing this is, quite simply, it is the right thing to do," said Grace Wakulchik, president and CEO of the hospital. "While we regularly analyze salaries to ensure our compensation is competitive in our region, we recognize our employees see the work they do here as much more than a job. This is an important step in acknowledging how much we appreciate all they do to support the work of Akron Children's Hospital."

The hospital also said it would make it a priority to maintain equity for employees who currently make $15 or slightly more. 

Pay adjustments will be made in the coming weeks for those employees. 

The increase will lead to bigger paychecks for around 25 percent of Akron Children's Hospital employees in foodservice and environmental services such as medical assistants, secretaries, schedulers, community health workers, home health aides, patient service representatives, and dispatchers.