Salaries paid to senior executives of hospitals need to be capped

It’s time to halt the runaway salaries among hospital executives and to implement a cap on the salaries of hospital executives. The Minister of Health George Smitherman and the McGuinty government are turning a blind eye to the growing annual salaries of the CEOs of Ontario’s hospitals, some of which exceed $665,000.

Meanwhile, hospital employees are told there’s no money for more staff, and to watch the pens and paper clips.

As hospital worker Joan Rogers pointed out in a June 30 letter to the Toronto Star, “I work in a major GTA hospital…the volume as increased considerably in the last two years, but the staff has not.”

“However, it seems that hospitals find enough money to pay their executives hefty salaries. Here are just a few examples: the CEOs of St. Michael's and Mount Sinai hospitals make a whopping $688,085 and $592,491 respectively. The CEO of North York General Hospital earns $419,103,” Rogers wrote.

The Green Party would not only cap the lucrative salaries of hospital executives, but also redirect the funds to increase spending on prevention, early detection, and health promotion.

As the baby boom generation starts to age, the massive strain on the medical system could soon make our public health care system unaffordable and unsustainable, unless actions are taken to cap the exorbitant pay of hospital executives and use the funds to increase the budget of the Ministry of Health Promotion, which currently garners 1% of the current Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care budget.