Chapel Hill, N.C.-based University of North Carolina Health Care System has more than doubled the salary of its sole cardiac surgeon in order to keep him practicing at the health system, according to a News Observer report.
The health system approved a $335,000 raise for Brett Sheridan, MD — bringing his annual salary to $600,000 — because its administrators reasoned losing him would be more costly to the system, according to the report. If Dr. Sheridan had left the system, it would have left its hospitals unable to perform cardiac procedures including heart transplants and valve replacements, which are high revenue-generating procedures for a hospital.
The $600,000 salary is the most UNC has paid any heart surgeon, and is above the national average salary of $533,084 for a cardiac or thoracic surgeon, according to the American Medical Group Association.
UNC is currently recruiting another heart surgeon for the system.
Read the News Observer report on cardiac surgeon compensation.
Read more coverage on cardiology and cardiac surgeon compensation:
- 3 Trends in Cardiology Compensation and Workload
The health system approved a $335,000 raise for Brett Sheridan, MD — bringing his annual salary to $600,000 — because its administrators reasoned losing him would be more costly to the system, according to the report. If Dr. Sheridan had left the system, it would have left its hospitals unable to perform cardiac procedures including heart transplants and valve replacements, which are high revenue-generating procedures for a hospital.
The $600,000 salary is the most UNC has paid any heart surgeon, and is above the national average salary of $533,084 for a cardiac or thoracic surgeon, according to the American Medical Group Association.
UNC is currently recruiting another heart surgeon for the system.
Read the News Observer report on cardiac surgeon compensation.
Read more coverage on cardiology and cardiac surgeon compensation:
- 3 Trends in Cardiology Compensation and Workload