Several health system CEOs and leadership members are forgoing or donating pay during the COVID-19 outbreak as systems face furloughing workers due to low revenue.
It is the latest bid by hospital systems to stay afloat financially as low patient volume and cancellation of elective procedures have plummeted revenues.
Here are some of the system CEOs and leaders that have donated their pay:
- Mount Sinai, a large hospital network in New York City, announced last week that CEO Kenneth Davis, M.D., and the system’s leadership team will take a 50% pay cut “for as long as necessary so that these dollars can be directed to our front lines in this fight,” a statement said.
- Erlanger Health System, a seven-hospital system in Tennessee and North Carolina, announced March 30 it is reducing leadership pay in addition to furloughing some administrative employees, suspending 403(b) retirement contributions and stopping vacation accruals.
- The CEO of Cape Cod Healthcare System, a two-hospital network in Massachusetts, will donate his monthly salary of $78,000 for April to the system’s resources, according to a report in Boston Business Journal. CEO Michael Lauf told the journal that the system plans to keep paying workers for the next two weeks and will not be doing furloughs yet.
- Major hospital system HCA Healthcare, which has 184 hospitals across the country, announced that CEO Sam Hazen will donate his April and May salary to a fund intended to help employees weather a reduction in hours.
- Beth Israel Lahey, a 12-hospital system in Massachusetts, also will have its CEO take a 50% pay cut and the rest of the leadership team a 20% cut, according to a report in NPR.