Hospitals dole out million-dollar salaries, skirting state cap

Despite a state cap on nonprofit executive pay, hospital leaders and top physicians earned five times more than the $199,000 annual limit ordered by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, reported the Journal News.

In fact, eight Lower Hudson Valley hospital execs received more than $1 million in 2010, even as the state struggled to control escalating healthcare costs, according to the Journal News analysis of tax forms.

Overall, 177 top employees from the area's 14 nonprofit hospitals out-earned the governor's cap, suggesting such compensation restrictions don't actually prevent excessive salaries. That's because hospital execs can circumvent the regulation by using private revenue to pay the high salaries, City and State noted last month.

And hospitals looking to retain talented leadership with attractive pay packages might find yet another way to dodge the governor's regulation, as the Greater New York Hospital Association told its members they can apply for a waiver from the $199,000 pay cap, according to the Journal News.

Meanwhile, Providence, R.I., is on the brink of bankruptcy while the CEO of Rhode Island Hospital rakes in millions of dollars each year. The city's major said Providence could file Chapter 9 if nonprofit hospitals don't start contributing more to the budget.

To learn more:
- read the Journal News article
- check out last month's City & State article