Kenneth Frisof, MD, a retired family medicine physician from Cleveland-based MetroHealth System, is calling for a CEO pay cap after the health system's CEO allegedly gave himself and others more than $2.2 million in unauthorized bonuses, Dr. Frisof wrote in a letter published Dec. 24 on cleveland.com.
Dr. Frisof is calling for hospital CEO salaries to be capped at $800,000, twice the salary of the U.S. president.
Former CEO Akram Boutros, MD, was fired last month by the MetroHealth System Board of Trustees, alleging he gave himself $1.9 million in bonuses between 2018 and 2022 without the board's approval. He allegedly gave himself bonuses after conducting self assessments with self-established metrics of his job performance.
In 2021, Dr. Boutros also paid his executive team $2.26 million in additional bonuses, cleveland.com reported Dec. 23.