Morgantown, W.Va.-based Mon Health Medical Center suspended employees' raises for one year beginning July 15, according to The Dominion Post.
The July 19 memo, sent to The Dominion Post by a reader, was provided to employees by Thomas Senker, interim CEO of the hospital and its parent company, Morgantown-based Mon Health.
Mr. Senker wrote in the memo that Mon Health, like other health systems, has faced significant fiscal challenges during the last year, and that officials have devised an operations improvement plan to address those issues.
The plan will comprise several components and departments, including pharmacy, revenue cycle, physician practice and workforce efficiency. Along with the pay freeze, the hospital's human resources and finance departments will review the institution's compensation programs for possible revisions.
In an interview with The Dominion Post, Mr. Senker said the hospital maintains "a strong financial base" and referenced a "somewhat tumultuous period" that took place earlier this year concerning the hospital's former chief executive. Darryl Duncan, the former CEO of Mon Health Medical Center, was placed on leave Feb. 7 after more than 20 physicians at Mon Health's flagship hospital signed a letter of no confidence in him. Earlier this month, Mr. Duncan was accused of harassing his replacement.
"We continue to have an extremely sound foundation and strong fundamentals. It's not in any way a critical time for us," he told the publication. "To prepare for the future and be as strong as we can, we need to tighten our belt a little bit. … We're very confined [sic] that we'll return to where the organization has always been, and beyond."
Mr. Senker, who previously helmed Mon Health Medical Center from 1983 through 1999, told The Dominion Post the change in compensation policy was an operational decision made by previous leadership based on the hospital's performance at the time, and that it would not be appropriate to second-guess the decision, according to the report.