BOSTON (AP) – Nurses at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have approved a new contract that makes them the highest-paid nurses in New England, and among the highest-paid in the country, union officials say.

The three-year contract ratified on Tuesday after only about five weeks of negotiations gives the hospital’s 225 nurses pay raises of between 9 percent and 23 percent, depending on seniority and area of specialty.

Under the contract, full-time nurses with 15 years of experience will make $67.78 an hour by 2009, which is about $141,000 per year.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that recognizes the value of registered nurses and the vital role we play in delivering first-rate care to the patients at Dana-Farber,” said Kathleen McDermott, a Dana-Farber nurse and chair of union’s bargaining unit.

Dana-Farber administrators also welcomed the new contract. “We value our nurses, their skill, and the high quality of care they provide our patients and their families,” said Patricia Reid Ponte, senior vice president for patient care services.

The new contract also preserves the union rights of charge nurseswho are supervisors and therefore ineligible for union membership.

Dana-Farber, which provides care to cancer patients and conducts cancer research, is in the midst of a $1 billion fundraising drive.