Non-profit Hospital Executives’ Salaries Top Half a Million
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Contact: Elizabeth Brennan, 323-888-8183, Carlyn Foster, (510) 587-4528
OAKLAND, Calif. – Motivated by runaway executive salaries and bonuses at El Camino Hospital, healthcare providers who serve the patients at the hospital and community activists launched a local signature gathering campaign and held a candlelight vigil in support of a special district ballot initiative that would cap high executive salaries at the hospital.
The ballot initiative would ensure the annual salary and compensation package for any executive, manager or administrator of either El Camino Hospital or El Camino Hospital District shall not exceed twice the salary of California’s governor.
“I’d rather see my tax dollars go toward providing quality care for my neighbors, my friends and my family,” said Kary Lynch, who has worked at the hospital for more than 30 years. “These public resources should be used on the healthcare of local residents, not to pay millions to executives.”
El Camino Hospital is a not-for-profit publicly funded hospital. Currently the CEO Tomi Ryba is paid four times California Gov. Jerry Brown’s salary. Ryba’s salary is $695,000 per year with the opportunity to make an additional 30 percent in bonuses.
Annually, El Camino receives about $16 million in taxpayer support from local residents. A recently released financial statement shows the facility increased its operating income by $41.5 million. Instead of cutting exorbitant and disproportionate compensation to executives, the hospital wants to eliminate some pay and benefits for its frontline caregivers including nurses and staff.
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SEIU—United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is the largest hospital and healthcare union in the western United States with more than 150,000 members. We unite every type of healthcare worker with a mission to achieve high-quality healthcare for all. SEIU-UHW is part of the 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation’s fastest-growing union. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.