CHOC responds to OC Watchdog

CHOC provides more detail on executive’s compensation
September 4th, 2008, 3:30 pm · 6 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
Recently, we highlighted the healthy compensation of OC’s non-profit hospital executives.
Top earners were Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian’s Richard Afable, whose total compensation was $1.2 million, and Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s Kim Cripe, whose total was $1.1 million.
Denise Almazan, director of public relations for CHOC and CHOC at Mission, wanted to provide more detail on Cripe, so we copy her message below:
Kim Cripe oversees a regional tertiary/quaternary pediatric healthcare system that includes two pediatric hospitals, five community clinics, four centers of excellence, a Research Institute, and a residency program that trains tomorrow’s pediatricians. The system serves multiple counties - Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and parts of San Diego, and receives patients from more than 70 hospitals. It is the only children’s healthcare system in the region and acts as a safety net for some of the area’s neediest and most critically ill children.
Not all organizations report benefits on their tax returns in the same fashion, and CHOC takes a conservative approach by including in the total benefit column such elements as the employer’s portion of Social Security, state unemployment insurance, group health insurance, worker’s compensation premiums and even severance packages - which CHOC’s CEO has not received given her continued service. Her compensation, based on market data of like organizations (size, complexity, revenue), including other children’s hospitals, is determined by the Compensation Committee of the board of directors, of which she and other hospital executives are not members. This committee employs best practices in non-profit governance and executive compensation and contracts with an external, independent firm whose database includes compensation data reported by approximately 350 health care systems, 1,000 hospitals,and 50 children’s hospitals, covering over 17,000 executives and 130 positions.