Madera, Calif.-based Valley Children's Healthcare is providing its president and CEO, Todd Suntrapak, with 24-hour security following criticism of its compensation for top hospital executives.
Zara Arboleda, a spokesperson for the health system, confirmed to Becker's that Mr. Suntrapak has had to get security at his home.
"Yes, security has been added to our CEO's home after threats were made against him," Ms. Arboleda said. "Due to security concerns, we cannot discuss more details."
Ms. Arboleda previously told GV Wire that the security assignment was in response to comments made by Fresno leaders but did not specify what the comments were.
Fresno City Council members Miguel Arias and Garry Bredefeld have spoken out recently about executive compensation at Valley Children's. They have characterized the compensation of Mr. Suntrapak as "excessive," and they asked California Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate operations at Valley Children's, NBC affiliate KSEE and CBS affiliate KGPE reported.
Mr. Bonta's office told Becker's on March 25, "To protect its integrity, we can't comment on, even to confirm or deny, a potential or ongoing investigation."
Valley Children's Healthcare has pushed back against the criticisms of executive compensation, saying that "assumptions made about the compensation for our CEO are based on, at best, an ill-informed reading of our IRS Form 990 from 2021."
The health system also outlined its specific compensation structure in a letter to the Fresno City Council from Valley Children's Healthcare board of trustees Chair Michael Hanson and members of the board.
On April 1, Mr. Bredefeld posted a response to the GV Wire story on Facebook, which says in part, "It's clear from the article that Valley Children's leaders are out of touch with the community they are supposed to serve. And when I say out of touch … what I'm talking about is the position taken by Valley Children's that no one should make public comments about their cronyism and misuse of the hospital's money. That is outrageous."