CEO Salaries Soar Into The Stratosphere
Were you aware that the CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was paid $7,700,000.00 in 2021? And got a bonus of $5,600,000.00 to boot? That’s more than the hospital had provided in all charity offerings over the previous three years!
That package averaged to over a quarter million ($256,000.00) a week; almost $6,400.00 an hour!
When I first heard of Madeline Bell’s mind blowing salary, I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is crazy!”
I was glad to learn that Ms. Bell is a nurse and as such would be able to command such a high salary, but I’m hoping she remembers where she came from and uses her position to support and honor her nurses.
Remember the days when healthcare was the responsibility of a community, and we took care of our own in those small community hospitals? Now healthcare has become “corporatized” with multiple facilities throughout the country.
Consider:
1. When CEOs command such huge salaries, it sends a message that profit is more important than patient care, eroding the ethical foundation of the healthcare system.
2. The staggering salaries of healthcare CEOs divert resources from where they’re needed to improve medical infrastructure, hire more healthcare professionals, invest in research, and make healthcare services more affordable and accessible to all.
3. With the escalating cost of health care, is it fair and just for CEOs to command such high salaries? These salaries trickle down to patients in the form of higher fees and insurance premiums.
4. If you know the salary of your CEO as a frontline healthcare worker, how do you feel? These huge salaries affect staff morale and retention.
5. The compensation structures for healthcare CEOs ties earnings to financial performance, again putting profits over patients.
6. When healthcare CEOs make such huge salaries, it can erode the public trust and raise questions about the facilities’ commitments to its admission to providing healthcare services for the community benefits.
7. When high CEO salaries can be seen as diverting resources away from initiatives that could address broader healthcare disparities and social determinants of health.
Therefore, while I am pleased that a nurse like Ms. Bell is at the helm at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, commanding such a fantastic salary, other CEOs, mostly male, are commanding even bigger payments!
It’s time to equalize the playing field between men and women and between CEOs and staff. I am not saying that CEOs don’t deserve to be compensated, but maybe put back $5,000,000.00 into the nurses’ pockets?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and invite you to please leave a comment below.
