Geisinger President and CEO Jaewon Ryu, MD, and the rest of the Danville, Pa.-based health system's executive team have volunteered to take pay cuts and donate the funds to an employee emergency assistance fund.
Dr. Ryu is taking a 30 percent pay cut, and the rest of Geisinger's leadership team is taking a 20 percent reduction in pay. The temporary reductions in compensation will supply about $250,000 per month to a newly created fund for employees facing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.
"The COVID-19 crisis is not only a public health crisis; it is also an economic crisis caused by the necessary temporary shutdown of our society," Dr. Ryu said. "While funds from this compensation reduction could help Geisinger's expected budget challenges, in recognition of the hardships faced by some of our employees at this time, the leadership team and I felt it was more appropriate to use the funds to create this new employee emergency assistance fund."
Geisinger's announcement comes as executive teams at several other hospital networks across the U.S. are giving up part of their salary in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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