Stevens Hospital CEO gets $103,666 bonus
Published 10:55 pm Thursday, March 26, 2009
EDMONDS — Stevens Hospital’s chief executive Michael Carter has been awarded $103,666, an incentive that comes on top of his base salary of $383,947.
The money is part of a plan to give him and seven other top administrators extra pay for achieving specific goals set out by the public hospital’s elected five-member board during 2008.
Overall, Stevens administrators received $208,104 in incentive payments.
The payment to Carter was announced at the end of a board executive session Wednesday. The money will be awarded to both Carter and the administrators once year-end audits are complete.
Board member Kimberly Cole congratulated Carter on the hospital’s performance last year, saying there were improvements in the hospital’s financial performance and in patient satisfaction.
The hospital earned $5 million in overall profit last year, the best financial report from the taxpayer-supported hospital in 14 years.
Carter’s contract allows him to get as much as 30 percent more in incentive pay for meeting specific goals. Other hospital administrators can get up to 20 percent more.
Goals for 2008 included maintaining the hospital’s financial health, reducing the time it takes patients to be treated in the emergency room and improving both patient and employee satisfaction.
Carter’s salary is comparable to colleagues at other public and private hospitals in the Puget Sound area, said hospital spokesman Jack Kirkman. Improvements to the hospital’s finances during his tenure “says a great deal about Mike Carter’s competencies,” he said.
The goals on which incentive pay might be awarded for performance this year focus more on improving the satisfaction of patients, whether they are treated in the emergency room or an outpatient clinic or admitted to the hospital.
Carter was hired in June 2006. His contract called for receiving a base salary and extra pay for reaching specific goals. In addition, Carter is eligible for annual raises.
Before Carter was hired, an executive consulting firm told board members that they could expect to pay between $500,000 and $600,000 in annual salary and benefits to a new chief executive.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, salyer@heraldnet.com.
