On March 20, attending and resident physicians at Mass General Brigham picketed outside Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in support of legislation that would place a cap on hospital CEO pay.
The physicians, represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local of the Service Employees International Union, reported that more than 300 physicians and allies came together outside MGH and BWH. According to The Boston Globe, about 50 Mass General Brigham residents and attending physicians picketed in front of MGH.
The physicians picketed to voice their support of legislative proposals that would cap the total annual compensation of CEOs at state-funded hospitals to no more than 50 times the minimum compensation paid at the facility. Institutions that violate the cap would be subject to a civil penalty equal to the amount by which the CEO’s annual compensation exceeds the limit. The legislative proposals were referred to committees in late February.
Physicians said that funds should be redirected away from what they identify as “excessive, executive compensation,” according to the union.
“Let me be clear: CEOs do not save lives. We do. All of us at the hospital do,” Tom Ituarte, MD, a resident physician at MGH, said in the CIR/SEIU release. “CEOs do not stay up all night in the ICU, making split-second decisions that determine whether a patient lives or dies. We do. CEOs do not carry the weight of an understaffed and broken hospital system on their backs while still trying to provide the best possible care. We do.”
A spokesperson for MGB told the Globe that its board works with a third party to benchmark executive compensation, which is measured against “not-for-profit health systems and academic medical centers with over $10 billion in revenue.”