It is Harder to Run a Small Public Hospital System than California? - Deep Seated Myths and Logical Fallacies Underpinning Health Care Executive Compensation

Hospital executive compensation, the gift that keeps on giving...  A Public Hospital CEO's Current Compensation A recent, somewhat obscure news article shows how deeply rooted is the current practice of paying top hired managers of health care organizations amounts that seem outlandish given the context.The article, in the Argus - San Jose (CA) Mercury News, discussed the compensation given the CEO of a small public hospital district.  It opened with, Amid a budget crunch that has forced sweeping cutbacks at its medical facilities, the Washington Township Health Care District board of directors on Wednesday awarded its CEO $162,783 in incentive pay that raises her total annual compensation and contract perks this year to more than $800,000.The bonus pushes Farber's total 2012-13 compensation past $813,915, less than the $936,349 she made in 2011 or her $912,519 pay in 2010, when she was among the top five paid government employees statewide in a survey by the state controller's office. Note first that Washington Township Health Care District is a public health district.  As an article from January, 2013 in The Argus - San Jose Mercury News explained,The Washington Township Health Care District is a public agency in southern Alameda County and receives tax money from 320,000 district residents under voter-approved bond measures. The District is also under financial stress.  As the earlier Argus - Mercury News article stated,Physici...
Source: Health Care Renewal - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: executive compensation perverse incentives imperial CEO public hospitals hospital systems accountability Source Type: blogs