Robert Reich @RBReich: Partners HealthCare CEO Anne Klibanski, who makes between $2M and $6M

[BeckyDem]

Link to tweet

I have no doubt Anne sleeps well at night.

[stillcool]

1. it's working just fine...

for some. These people are so naked. I just hope no one forgets. This has to matter.

[BeckyDem]

2. +1. The gaps are so stark right now.

[smirkymonkey]

3. Criminal.

[Hoyt]

4. More Reich BS. Non-Profit Partners has 74,000+ employees. It's a big system that will likely

experience a big hit in revenue for most of it's departments because of this virus. It includes Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

If they don't provide care for the thousands infected, that's one thing. But, they do.

Not saying the employees don't deserve it, but a health system that large has to make sure they have the funds to provide services to their patients (over 1.5 million a year seen).

When it's all over, if that's the time to consider bonuses.

[BeckyDem]

6. Its not BS and its also not from Robert. Maybe you're not aware some are writing their wills.

Health Care CEO Who Makes Millions Says No to Hazard Pay for Coronavirus Workers
“Thank you for the courage,” she tells doctors and nurses.


David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio

excerpt: We have also heard you are worried about your family, friends, colleagues and patients.” But, she declared, “we do not calibrate pay and benefits based upon the patients’ condition and for this reason we do not offer hazard or crisis pay.”

In her letter, Klibanski pointed out that Partners HealthCare, which was founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, does provide its employees with pay and benefits if they cannot work because they have contracted COVID-19 and that the company is providing eight weeks of pay and benefits to employees who are not needed because elective surgeries and other non-urgent procedures have been canceled or deferred. But these measures do not benefit those doctors, nurses, and other hospital workers who are treating coronavirus cases during this hellish pandemic. A week ago, CNN reported that 150 employees at Boston hospitals had tested positive for the coronavirus, with 86 of these cases in Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Klibanski doesn’t have to worry about hazard pay herself. When she became head of the company last year, it was reported that her base annual salary would be $2 million. But it’s likely she pockets more than that. Her predecessor received a base salary of $2.3 million in 2017 plus additional compensation of $3.8 million. According to the Boston Business Journal, that year he earned “nearly three times as much as every other health system executive in the state.”

The letter to the Partners HealthCare employees was signed by the heads of 12 hospitals that are part of the company, including Dr. Peter Slavin, president of of Massachusetts General, and Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. They each earned $2.6 million in total compensation in 2017.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/04/health-care-ceo-who-makes-millions-says-no-to-hazard-pay-for-coronavirus-workers/


BTW, a third of the total # of employees are doctors and nurses. Over 13 billion in revenue. Nice pile of profits last year too.

[Hoyt]

8. Profits that will be plowed back into the health system. I'm OK with that.

[BeckyDem]

10. I'm sure you are.

[friendly_iconoclast]

19. Sociopaths expect other people to 'take one for the team'-never themselves

"Some of you may die- but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make..."

[BeckyDem]

20. Yes, I'm afraid so.

Complicit, at best.

[friendly_iconoclast]

25. See my replies #22 and #24 below for further thoughts along these lines

[mwooldri]

11. So if it's BS....

Does the CEO of Partners make more than $1 million a year? If that is true, then answer this (rhetorical) question : How does the CEO of NHS England make do with $240 thousand a year?

[Hoyt]

14. Well, first the CEO of NHS is a government employee. Second, have you looked at the qualifications

of Partners Healthcare's CEO?

The "CEO of NHS" doesn't make the kind of decisions someone in Dr. Anne Klibanski has to make.


While I have to agree her pay is higher than I think is justified, I don't see a big problem with the letter sent to employees.

"Dear Colleagues:

We want to recognize and express our gratitude to all of you for providing exceptional patient care and for supporting each other and the community during these unprecedented times. We appreciate the sacrifices each of you has made to ensure that care can be delivered when and where it’s needed.

Partners HealthCare has always prided itself on providing world-class care for all patients, regardless of their specific illness, injury or condition. Every day, we are gratified to see the dedication of our health care workers across the system and we appreciate your work and the work of your colleagues through this COVID-19 crisis.

Over the past few days, we have heard a number of questions about whether we are or will provide “hazard pay” to our workforce. We understand why you may be worried about exposure and are vigilant in our efforts to help you and your colleagues stay safe and healthy. We have also heard you are worried about your family, friends, colleagues and patients. A core part of our mission is that we deliver the same high-quality care to all patients without regard to the type or severity of their condition. Similarly, we do not calibrate pay and benefits based upon the patients’ condition and for this reason we do not offer hazard or crisis pay.

We are working to ensure that our workforce has the pay security and support they need to continue to do the lifesaving work needed during this pandemic. As we’ve shared over the past few days, we are providing our workforce with pay and benefits if they are unable to come to work due to COVID-related illness. We are also providing up to eight weeks of pay and benefits if they are temporarily without their own work or a reassignment opportunity because their job has been affected by deferrals of elective or other non-urgent procedures. In addition, we are paying the full cost for hotel rooms for those working in patient care areas and perform direct care or supporting services for when you feel too tired to commute or if there is not enough time between shifts to travel home.

We care deeply about all our employees and want to provide as much support as possible through this challenging time. Behavioral health resources, childcare assistance and general wellness resources are available and can be accessed through a dedicated resources page on Partners Pulse. In addition, our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is an excellent resource for multiple support services we offer, and they can be reached at [phone].

Thank you for the courage you demonstrate every day and for the continued dedication to our patients, employees and community.

Anne Klibanski, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Partners HealthCare

Peter L. Slavin, MD
President, Mass General Hospital

Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD
President, Brigham Health

David O. McCready, MBA, MHA
President
Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital

Joanne Marqusee
President and Chief Executive Officer
Cooley Dickinson Hospital

Denise Schepici, MPH
President & Chief Executive Officer
Martha’s Vineyard Hospital

John Fernandez
President
Massachusetts Eye and Ear

Scott L. Rauch, MD
President and Psychiatrist in Chief
McLean Hospital

Gary A. Shaw, FACHE
President & Chief Executive Officer
Nantucket Cottage Hospital

Gregg Meyer, MD
Interim President
Newton-Wellesley Hospital

David J. Roberts, MD

North Shore Medical Center

David E. Storto
President
Partners Continuing Care and Spaulding Rehabilitation Network

Gregory J. Walker, FACHE
President & Chief Executive Officer
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

[friendly_iconoclast]

18. The nerve of some people- expecting mere *employees* to endanger Partners expansion plans:

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2020/01/13/partners-healthcare-expects-to-spend-6-1b-in-next.html

Partners HealthCare expects to spend $6.1B in next five years on expansions

...Partners plans to spend $6.1 billion from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2024 to stay at the top of the health care food chain, according to the presentation. Spending, in both committed projects and new initiatives, could ultimately be higher, with another $675 million available for the organization...

...In fiscal 2019 alone, revenue from innovation totaled $349 million — a 139% increase from fiscal 2018. Apart from general upticks, the health system saw a large bump in fiscal 2019 from the sale of an orthopedic device to Zimmer Biomet (NYSE: ZBH), an Indiana-based medical device company, for $47 million.

At the same time, the organization has saved millions of dollars since fiscal 2017. From fiscal 2017 through fiscal 2019, Partners had saved $424 million through a variety of expense management techniques, including supply chain efficiencies, workflow improvements, a buyout of Brigham employees and other operational efficiencies. The organization hopes to save another $76 million in fiscal 2020.

That strategy has allowed Partners to embark on the next five years on solid footing. The health system’s operating income has been trending upward for the past three years, culminating in $485 million in operating income reported in fiscal 2019....

[Hoyt]

21. As long as they continue treating uninsured and Medicaid patients with best care,

I’m fine with plowing profits back into facilities, etc.

The nerve of them planning for citizens/patient’s long-term needs.

[friendly_iconoclast]

22. Defending Partners actions in this case is, at best, 'system justification'...

...as you don't actually *know* if Partners is providing best care for Medicaid and uninsured patients

https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2017/06/system-justification

A theory of system justification

Is there a nonconscious tendency to defend, bolster and justify aspects of the societal status quo?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/without-prejudice/201702/system-justification-why-people-buy-social-inequality

System Justification: Why People Buy Into Social Inequality

[friendly_iconoclast]

24. Just so you know, Partners transfers uninsured patients to Boston Medical Center...

...a smaller hospital operated by the city of Boston:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Medical_Center

Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a non-profit 514-bed academic medical center in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest safety-net hospital and Level I trauma center in New England.

BMC employs 747 physicians—including 817 residents and fellows—and 1,583 nurses.

If I wanted to quietly listen to a defense of the indefensible, I'd tune into a Trump presser...

[BeckyDem]

26. Thank you. +1

[friendly_iconoclast]

27. You're welcome. Blatant shilling and arguments from authority need to be confronted...

...whenever possible.

[BeckyDem]

28. Agreed, especially now.

[zentrum]

15. Not BS.

The point is her obscene profits. And how she will fight single payer in order To preserve profit.

Single payer will not bankrupt hospitals. It will simply make the obscenely rich leeches a little less rich.

[BeckyDem]

16. +1.

[SheltieLover]

5. K&R

Should be considered criminal imo.

[BeckyDem]

7. I think so.

But we allow this to go on and on. Maybe we will finally end it.

[SheltieLover]

17. 👍

This has to stop!

[rockfordfile]

9. That CEO should be fired

[Initech]

12. She'll just get replaced with another one who will make things worse.

Assholes like this are a dime a dozen anymore.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. She exemplifies the reason US healthcare costs twice per capita Canada's and worse results. . . . nt

[OhioChick]

23. Sickening n/t