Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1499344
60 HEALTHCARE NEWS 60 20 hospitals with smallest CEO-to-worker pay ratios By Kelly Gooch C EO pay at large has been a target of criticism by workers in recent months, including physicians and travel nurses, and the issue has surfaced as healthcare professionals negotiate their own pay. Amid this criticism, Lown Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, has measured hospitals' and health systems' social responsibility via 53 metrics related to inclusivity, pay equity, community benefit, care value and outcomes. Below are the 20 hospitals out of 3,764 with the smallest gap in hourly wages between executives and hospital workers without advanced degrees, as measured by Lown Institute. Some of the 20 hospitals are part of the 21 health systems out of 307 with the smallest CEO-to- worker pay ratios, also measured by Lown. For both lists, the institute obtained data for CEO compensation from the Securities and Exchange Commission, public payroll data and IRS 990 filings from 2019. It obtained average worker wages from the CMS Healthcare Cost Report Information System. e institute included lower wage staff, such as janitorial and kitchen staff, and medical records personnel, and excluded professional staff such as physicians and nurse practitioners, whose jobs require specialized degrees. If hospitals lacked complete wage index information in the CMS Healthcare Cost Report Information System, Lown substituted the average wage for hospitals in the same state and urban or rural status. It estimated hourly wages for CEOs based on the work hours listed in their IRS forms, defaulting to 46 hours per week when the hours were not listed, and calculated a ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay. e following hospitals earned five stars from Lown, the highest rating available. More information about the methodology and the full rankings are available here. 1. MUSC Medical Center (Charleston, S.C.) 2. Kiowa (Kan.) District Hospital 3. Ascension St Vincent's St. Clair (Pell City, Ala.) 4. Marias Medical Center (Shelby, Mont.) 5. Falls Community Hospital & Clinic (Marlin, Texas) 6. Ascension St. Vincent's Blount (Oneonta, Ala.) 7. Mercy Hospital Cassville (Mo.) 8. Mercy Hospital (Moundridge, Kan.) 9. Mercy Hospital Aurora (Mo.) 10. West Holt Memorial Hospital (Atkinson, Neb.) 11. Fairview Hospital (Great Barrington, Mass.) 12. ree Rivers Hospital (Brewster, Wash.) 13. North Valley Hospital (Tonasket, Wash.) 14. South Central Health (Wishek, N.D.) 15. Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital (Greensburg, Pa.) 16. Monroe County Hospital (Forsyth, Ga.) 17. Glenn Medical Center (Willows, Calif.) 18. Hanover (Kan.) Hospital 19. Baum Harmon Mercy Hospital (Primghar, Iowa) 20. Mercy St. Francis Hospital (Mountain View, Mo.) n Layoffs loom for CommonSpirit By Kelly Gooch C ommonSpirit Health said it is "taking steps to improve efficiency and effectiveness" amid financial challenges, which may include changes that affect jobs. "Like many health care providers, we are experiencing tremendous financial strain caused by a number of factors," the Chicago-based health system told Becker's, via an emailed statement. "As a result, we are taking steps to improve efficiency and effectiveness that may include changes that impact roles in our divisions and at the national office, as well as reduce our costs where appropriate." CommonSpirit added that the changes will not affect patient care and will "ensure we are better positioned to serve our communities in the future." The system did not provide further details about the number of jobs or specific positions that may be affected. The remarks come after Tacoma, Wash.-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health confirmed it laid off nearly 400 employees, most of whom were in non-patient-facing roles. The layoffs affected less than 2 percent of the health system's 19,000-plus workforce. Virginia Mason is part of CommonSpirit, which was created in 2019 by Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives and San Francisco-based Dignity Health. CommonSpirit operates 140 hospitals and more than 1,000 care sites in 21 states, according to its website. The health system reported $451 million in operating losses for the six-month period ending Dec. 31, compared with $47 million for the same period in 2021. n