A pricey bid to retain David Feinberg, MD, associate vice chancellor and CEO of UCLA's public hospital system, has drawn criticism from media outlets and the public in recent months, according to an L.A. Weekly report.
Faced with hospital competitors vying for Dr. Feinberg's leadership, Chancellor Gene Block offered to double Dr. Feinberg's base salary from $739,695 to $1.33 million in 2010, according to the report.
The increase included a 22 percent pay raise of $160,300 and an annual retention bonus of $250,000, paid every year that Dr. Feinberg does not accept another job. Dr. Feinberg will also continue to receive his incentive bonus, which exceeded $200,000 in 2009.
The bid, which came alongside tuition hikes for UCLA students and cuts to academic programs, drew uncomfortable media attention to the system in September. The criticism only intensified when the San Francisco Chronicle reported on a private letter sent from Dr. Feinberg and 35 other UC system executives to the UC Board of Regents in December. The letter demanded that the Board boost the executives' $245,000 salary caps — otherwise, the executives said, they would sue.
In early January, the pension boosts were blocked, but three weeks later, the executives received deferred incentive bonuses totaling $2.6 million, according to the report. In the report, the L.A. Weekly questions whether Dr. Feinberg's salary is matched to his qualifications and job responsibilities, especially considering the economic challenges facing the state of California.
Read the L.A. Weekly report on Dr. Feinberg.
Read more on compensation:
-All New York State Salaries Now Listed Online
-20 Statistics on Physician Earnings by Gender
-Male Physicians Still Out-Earn Female Physicians in Almost Every Specialty
Faced with hospital competitors vying for Dr. Feinberg's leadership, Chancellor Gene Block offered to double Dr. Feinberg's base salary from $739,695 to $1.33 million in 2010, according to the report.
The increase included a 22 percent pay raise of $160,300 and an annual retention bonus of $250,000, paid every year that Dr. Feinberg does not accept another job. Dr. Feinberg will also continue to receive his incentive bonus, which exceeded $200,000 in 2009.
The bid, which came alongside tuition hikes for UCLA students and cuts to academic programs, drew uncomfortable media attention to the system in September. The criticism only intensified when the San Francisco Chronicle reported on a private letter sent from Dr. Feinberg and 35 other UC system executives to the UC Board of Regents in December. The letter demanded that the Board boost the executives' $245,000 salary caps — otherwise, the executives said, they would sue.
In early January, the pension boosts were blocked, but three weeks later, the executives received deferred incentive bonuses totaling $2.6 million, according to the report. In the report, the L.A. Weekly questions whether Dr. Feinberg's salary is matched to his qualifications and job responsibilities, especially considering the economic challenges facing the state of California.
Read the L.A. Weekly report on Dr. Feinberg.
Read more on compensation:
-All New York State Salaries Now Listed Online
-20 Statistics on Physician Earnings by Gender
-Male Physicians Still Out-Earn Female Physicians in Almost Every Specialty