HHS

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday January 5, 2012

Hospital CEOs get salaries in retirement

Hamilton’s hospitals will pay their CEOs a full salary for at least one year after they retire.

For Hamilton Health Sciences, it means they will pay the equivalent of two CEO salaries next year as Murray Martin hangs on to his full contract — pay, benefits, perks and retirement compensation — for one year after handing over the reins to the new CEO when he retires at the end of 2012.

“This isn’t just a handout to him,” said Mark Rizzo, chair of the HHS board. “There are certain skills that he has that we want to keep in place.”

There is no minimum amount of work required next year by his contract — created in 2009 with his retirement in mind. But Rizzo says it will be a “significant” job helping the new CEO transition and acting as a special adviser to the board, requiring at least 100 days of work and an office in the hospital.

Kevin Smith, CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System, gets paid whether he resigns or retires. The agreement in his contract is meant to entice him to stay until at least the end of 2015, when he will be 53 years old.

Right now, he gets 12 months’ salary if he resigns or retires, in return for 75 hours of consulting service that adds up to nearly $7,400 an hour.

If he leaves next year, he gets 14 months’ salary for 125 hours of consulting.

And if he stays until the end of 2015, he gets 18 months’ salary for 200 hours of consulting, at a rate of about $4,100 an hour. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)