Martha's Vineyard Hospital in Oak Bluffs, Mass., will cut CEO pay and freeze wages of nearly all employees to address financial damage from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Vineyard Gazette.
Denise Schepici, hospital president and CEO, will take a 25 percent pay cut, and a wage freeze will affect clinical and nonclinical staff, she told the newspaper.
Wage freezes and salary cuts are taking place across Boston-based Mass General Brigham, formerly Partners HealthCare, which owns Martha's Vineyard Hospital.
Mass General Brigham announced June 17 that executives will take 25 percent pay cuts for one year, from July 1 through June 30, 2021. Other leaders, including senior vice presidents, will take smaller pay cuts. Ms. Schepici is the only executive-level staff at Martha's Vineyard Hospital.
Ms. Schepici told the Gazette a 12-month wage freeze applies to clinical and nonclinical staff earning more than $55,000 annually, and it includes ending merit raises a cost-of-living increases.
She said the hospital will honor physician contracts.
According to the Gazette, Martha's Vineyard Hospital has lost at least $8 million in revenue and expenses since the pandemic began. The hospital received $16 million in federal grants to help offset the financial damage. But Ms. Schepici said the hospital had to take short-term actions to improve cash flow.