Hospital execs issue ‘painful’ pay cuts to frontline staff but still earn big salaries
Doctors, nurses and other health care workers called on to care for coronavirus patients have had their wages cut, with some even going without paid time off amid the pandemic.
Hospital executives have continued earning big, however, pocketing million-dollar salaries.
The pay cuts come as hospitals seek to “make up for millions of dollars in lost revenue” from profitable elective procedures now postponed because of the virus, as reported by The Daily Beast.
One week after asking staff to reduce their work hours or voluntarily take time off, executives at the Colorado-based Denver Health received bonuses of up to $230,000 last month, according to CBS Denver. In Massachusetts, the CEO of the state’s largest healthcare system, Partners HealthCare, penned a letter informing employees they would not be receiving hazard pay for dealing with critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Anne Klibanski, who earns up to $2 million annually, signed the April 4 memo thanking hospital staff for the “sacrifices each of you has made to ensure that care can be delivered when and where it’s needed,” Mother Jones reported.
“We understand why you may be worried about exposure and are vigilant in our efforts to help you and your colleagues stay safe and healthy,” the letter continued, according to the outlet. But “we do not calibrate pay and benefits based upon the patients’ condition, and for this reason we do not offer hazard or crisis pay.”
Growing frustration
Executives at McLaren Health Care in Michigan have agreed to a 2% pay cut. Frontline staff facing furloughs say that’s not enough, however, calling it “a joke,” according to The Daily Beast.
“These people are making millions of dollars and they’re going to give 2% back?” Jeff Morawski, a registered nurse at McLaren Macomb told the news site. “I think it’s a joke. I think it’s a slap in the face. They’re not walking into the hospital every day as a frontline worker.”
Hospital workers have expressed growing frustration over executives’ reluctance to slash their own salaries in order to support the thousands of doctors, nurses and other professionals who risk their lives daily to fight the coronavirus.
“Your refusal to work collaboratively and negotiate is extremely disrespectful to all of us who have been coming to work every day, often without proper protection, putting our lives at risk to care for patients,” hospital workers with Stanford Health Care in California wrote in a letter accusing the company of “turning its back on front-line health care workers” after it announced plans to cut employee pay by as much as 20% for 10 weeks, Palo Alto Online reported.
Hospital officials respond
Hospital executives say the cutbacks are necessary amid the financial downtown caused by the coronavirus, which, as of Tuesday, has infected more than 1.1 million people nationwide. Denver Health CEO Robin Wittenstein told CBS Denver that the hospital reported an operating loss in March, adding that she expects more losses in the months ahead.
Facing scrutiny over the bonuses, Wittenson said she’s since encouraged executive staff members to “give something back,” whether it be taking unpaid leave, waiving PTO accrual for the next three months, or making a direct donation to the hospital’s charitable foundation.
“So every single member of our leadership team, 100%, is making a contribution,” she told the news station.
In a statement to WILX, executives for McLaren Health Care said 850 of the company’s top leaders have already taken pay cuts.
”McLaren is supporting all of its employees, especially those on the frontline of this crisis, by providing additional PTO and time off benefits from McLaren ... as well as access to state and federal benefits,” the statement continued.
‘Doctors and nurses are struggling’
Some McLaren hospital workers, including nurse Josh Straus, have voluntarily gone on furlough to help offset costs, according to local station WILX. Straus is among a growing group of workers who argue that executives should be willing to do the same.
“We’re just hoping that the management and the CEOs will also do that because right now I’m not aware of any of that happening,” Straus told the station.
Andrea Acevedo, president of SEIU Healthcare Michigan, represents several McLaren employees now asking the company’s top executives to take a pay cut. According to her, “If every executive at McLaren were to cut their salary by $1 million, there would be over $8 million that could go back into frontline care workers,” WILX reported.
Partners HealthCare has offered other benefits to its employees, according to Klibanski’s letter. Employees are eligible for pay and benefits if they contract the coronavirus, with the company also providing “eight weeks of pay and benefits to employees who are not needed because elective surgeries and other non-urgent procedures” that have since been put on hold, Mother Jones reported.
Hospital workers who are working with and treating coronavirus patients don’t benefit from these measures, however.
Still, frontline workers say hospital executives should be doing more and earning less.
“No one should be making millions of dollars when doctors and nurses are struggling,” a physician with Partners HealthCare told Mother Jones last month. “They should put that money in a fund for more pay and protective equipment to save our lives.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 3:49 PM.