Dive Brief:
- Numerous Massachusetts hospital leaders saw their compensation packages grow faster than overall health spending in the state in 2014, the Boston Globe reported.
- The newly released data came from IRS filings provided by nonprofit organizations with a delay of almost two years.
- The biggest package went to Brigham and Women’s Hospital president Elizabeth G. Nabel, who received compensation worth a total of $5.4 million in 2014, for an increase of 119% from her $2.5 million compensation in 2013. The difference was primarily due to Nabel's deferred compensation in 2014, because she vested that year in a retirement plan from corporate parent Partners HealthCare, the largest hospital network in the state.
Dive Insight:
Numerous other hospital executives around the state saw their 2014 pay packages go up from anywhere between 7% and 70%, the Globe reported. Meanwhile, overall healthcare spending in Massachusetts rose 4.8% that year--significantly less than executive compensation, but more than the state's 3.6% targeted limit.
Former Partners chief executive Gary L. Gottlieb received a 19% compensation boost that year to $3.1 million, though the company noted two other executives saw their totals go down as a result of changes in retirement vesting amounts.
A statement from Partners board chairman Edward P. Lawrence responded, “We must provide competitive wages and benefits in order to attract and retain the best individuals at a time when healthcare is undergoing sweeping change. The competition for excellent managers and leaders is especially strong at this time.”
Other reported compensation increases in 2014 included:
- Howard R. Grant, president of Lahey Health System in Burlington: 29% to $2.2 million;
- Kevin Tabb, president of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston: 7.1% to $1.5 million;
- Kathleen E. Walsh, president of Boston Medical Center: 7.6% to $1.4 million;
- Michael Wagner, president of Tufts Medical Center in Boston: 70% to $1 million;
- Sandra Fenwick, president of Boston Children’s Hospital: 41% to $1.7 million;
- Edward J. Benz Jr., president of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston: 7.1% to $1.5 million;
- Eric Dickson, chief executive of UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester: 41% to $1.6 million; and
- Patrick Muldoon, president of UMass Memorial Medical Center: 58% to $1.1 million.