COMP NEWS – Top executives at Oregon Health & Science University, including eight executive vice presidents, will not receive their portion of a more than $10 million bonus package. The reason? There’s not money to pay bonuses, says the university.
Top brass at Oregon Health & Science University won’t get their portion of a $12.5 million bonus package that stirred the ire of unionized workers.
The university’s eight executive vice presidents were going to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonuses, which were first reported by WW on Sept. 25. University president Dr. Danny Jacobs granted the bonuses to just 2,000 of the university’s 19,765 workers, most of whom will still receive them.
But two weeks after WW revealed the existence and scale of the bonus package, Jacobs said executive vice presidents would not get their portion, totaling $947,140.
Bonuses for the eight EVPs, one of whom makes more than $1 million a year, were not retracted because of opposition from unions or anyone else, OHSU spokeswoman Sara Hottman said in an email.
“These are not rescinded,” Hottman wrote. “As Dr. Jacobs said when he announced the Presidential Recognition Award, the executive vice presidents’ awards were contingent upon availability of funds after all individual contributors and other UA employees were accounted for. After verifying the pool of qualified UA members, Dr. Jacobs has determined the EVPs are not eligible for these awards.”
“UA” stands for “unclassified administrative.”
Top earners were set to receive as much as 15.9% of their base salary as an annual bonus. For some executives, these bonuses would have amounted to six-figure sums.
For top earners, the bonuses were to be made as a percentage of base salary. Executive vice presidents were to get the largest payments, at 15.9%, according to a chart of the bonuses obtained by WW. John Hunter, chief executive of OHSU’s health system and one the the highest-paid leaders, makes $1.15 million, which pegged his bonus at $183,000. Lawrence Furnstahl, EVP and chief financial officer, makes a base salary of $954,384. His President’s Recognition Award would have been $151,747.
The bonuses were not based on performance.
The bonus controversy comes at a critical time for OHSU. In August, it signed a letter of intent to acquire Legacy Health, a hospital chain that has struggled to remain profitable in the wake of the pandemic.
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