Becker's Hospital Review

47 47 CEO/STRATEGY CEO of Connecticut hospital defends $1M salary: 'People don't understand what it actually takes to get into this role' By Alyssa Rege B ristol (Conn.) Hospital CEO Kurt Barwis and several hospital board members discussed the institution's robust C-suite compensa- tion packages in light of a state tax revenue pro- posal, according to HartfordBusiness.com. Four things to know: 1. A 2017 IRS filing noted that Mr. Barwis earned more than $750,000 in salary and fringe bene- fits, while the health system made $174 million in revenue. Mr. Barwis told the publication that while he knows his salary as CEO of a nonprofit hospital is public knowledge, he takes issue with how the figure may be perceived by others. "People look at [the salary] and think it's just a big number, and they don't understand what it takes to actually get into this role, how much education and training, how much responsibility there is. There's not an executive in any of these organizations who's not on a 24-7-365 [sched- ule]," he said. 2. Connecticut hospitals and the state govern- ment have had a tense relationship since the former governor's administration brought back a hospital tax in 2012. The original tax leveraged higher federal reimbursements benefiting hos- pitals and the state. However, the state began taking more in funds to balance its budgets, a move that negatively affected hospitals. 3. Bristol Hospital CFO Richard Braam told the publication the governor's budget would take $516 million more in tax revenue than hospi- tals expected. While the net effect on hospitals would only be about $43 million above expec- tations, those losses would hurt hospitals' ability to recruit specialized talent, among other issues, Mr. Braam said 4. Despite the issues, Gov. Ned Lamont said af- ter a keynote speech that state officials are "in very good discussions with the hospitals, it's a reset of that relationship as well, and we'll see what happens going forward, but this year, [the hospital tax] is staying in the budget." n Tennessee governor should acknowledge rural hospital closure crisis, group says By Alyssa Rege T he Rural Health Association of Tennessee called on Gov. Bill Lee to acknowledge the statewide crisis affecting rural hospi- tals, CBS affiliate WTVF reported. "We really are at a crisis state here in Tennessee. We really have to be aggressive in thinking through how do we transform healthcare in rural areas," Rebecca Jolley, executive director of the association, told the television station. "When those ambulances are tied up, then what? You'll have people that could've been saved not making it." Ms. Jolley added that state leaders, including Mr. Lee, are not doing enough to help keep rural hospitals operational. Twenty-one counties in the state now lack access to an emergency room, the report states. Her remarks were largely in response to the closure of Cumberland River Hospital in Celina on March 1 — the 10th hospital closure in Tennessee, WTVF reported. n Dr. David Feinberg on Google's plan to fix fake news in healthcare By Alyssa Rege D avid Feinberg, MD, who stepped into a leadership role at Google's health team in January, said the technology giant is working to correct issues of fake news in healthcare, e Telegraph reported. Dr. Feinberg, who previously served as president and CEO of Danville, Pa.- based Geisinger, said that roughly 7 percent of the daily searches on Google are health-related, equating to 70,000 searches per minute. "People are asking us about conditions, medication, symptoms and insurance questions," Dr. Feinberg said during a technology conference in Austin, Texas, according to e Telegraph. "In this case, we are organizing the world's health information and making it accessible to everyone." Google has come under fire for providing misinformation on some health topics, including vaccinations. Dr. Feinberg said the company has "teams" of physicians and nurses analyzing search results, and that Google has worked to correct the flow of misinformation. "If you Google 'How am I going to kill myself ?' the first thing that comes up is a suicide prevention note. … If you Google 'vaccines and autism,' it comes up with the original study that says [the study] was flawed and not appropriate," he said. "I feel this urgency, this need to move fast. But then we have to be super careful because we do not want to erode trust. If people stop coming to Google, it is game over. At the same time, we have tools to make care better and we need to get them out," he added. n

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