According to several companies which calculate average salaries for hospital administrators, such as the Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial officer, the numbers I have found are far below what is being paid at the Kern Valley Healthcare District.
There are two stories coming from inside this hospital. The first is that they will go bankrupt if they don't obtain a bond which will be provided by the community in property taxes. The second involves the CFO, Chet Beedle, who says the hospital is not "hanging by a thread" financially that they are now making money.
He said the hospital has a surplus. (more on this soon)
Which do you believe, or which do you want to believe?
At the September KVHD board of Directors meeting, the board members voted to put the 22.7 million dollar bond on the ballot for the November election.
During this same meeting, a raise was given to the new CEO, who has been with the hospital for one year now. In a question and answer forum in the Kern Valley Sun, the CEO said he makes $213,158, the CFO Beedle makes $133, 723 and CNO, Mark Gordon gets $100,006.00.
The CEO goes on to say there are no bonuses and no extra expenses, they get what the rest of the employees get.
According to three sources, the average pay for a CEO nationally is $130,000 per year.
More specifically, Bakersfield has an average even lower than the national which is $108,000.
These figures include large and small hospitals, as a government site, had a figure of an average CEO salary at $116,000.
The Chief Financial officer has an even lower average which ranged from site to site, at or around $100,000.
Beedle who said in email below: KVHD frugality, that he was making $106,000 in 2008, then two years later, that has increased to $133,000. That would be almost 10% increase per year.
speaking of bonuses
There is much material to read in regard to health care, and one particular site, focused on performance raises. With the economy and healthcare reform on a crash course, administrators recieve raises based on the "overall" health of the hospital.
I would think that the board of directors could have implemented that style of pay increase, based on the performance of the hospital financially.
Due to the fact that these jobs are very difficult to obtain, and a small, rural hospital paying the highest end, for averages on hospitals such as large metropolitan medical centers, is out of touch with reality.
Can this small hospital afford to continue to ignore how it spends it's money?
Another main issue, was the fact that CEO's are usually groomed and are brought up from within the organization allowing them the education and knowledge to take over at some point. All of KVHD's management came from recruiters and live outside the valley even.
Please use Google average CEO salaries and average CFO salaries as there is much information to be found.
The hospital is paying the latest CEO, $65,000 more than the last administrator, and $100,000 more than the average CEO in Bakersfield.
“Competition for the CEO job in a hospital is fierce," said Carol Westfall, president of St. Louis-based Cejka Search.
That last comment makes me want to ask the question, could our CEO and CFO make the same amount of money at the same size hospital somewhere else?
Let's do an experiment and find out...
For more information, Google: "Payscale" "indeed" "national average salary, Average salary in California, Average Salary in Bakersfield California.
you hit it with that last line Laura. i think wwe should find out if they coud get the same money at a hospitla of the same size and population. Doubt it!
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