Top executives at Island Health get $1.6 million

Compensation for the top five executives running Island Health was more than $1.6 million in the fiscal year ended March 31.

The executive-compensation numbers for the latest fiscal year show Island Health CEO and president Brendan Carr at the top of the heap, earning $403,451, including incentives, pension and benefits.

Carr was named president and CEO for Island Health in August 2013. He joined the health authority the year before as executive vice-president and chief medical officer.

Carr’s base salary of $314,964 was negotiated between the Health and Finance ministries when he was hired. It has not risen since.

In 2015-2016, Carr earned an additional $18,491 in benefits, $31,765 in pension contributions and a bonus of $34,997 — a portion of his salary that is held back until completion of performance targets as determined by Island Health’s board of directors.

“He has to earn that, it’s not an automatic,” said Island Health human-resources director Carol Fuller. In her 12 years at Island Health, Fuller can’t recall a CEO’s salary “hold back” ever being held back.

Island Health, one of seven health authorities in B.C., is one of the Island’s largest employers, with more than 19,000 employees and 1,900 physicians, and a budget of more than $2.1 billion.

Fuller said the president and executives are being appropriately paid for providing consistent, good-quality care.

“We need to attract and retain professionals functioning at a very high level,” Fuller said. “Lots of hours are put into running an organization of this magnitude.”

Island Health works with the Health Employers Association of B.C., which determines salary ranges through guidelines set by the B.C. Public Sector Employers’ Council — it determines a midpoint of public- and private-sector salary ranges for similar healthsector-related positions in North America. A base-salary freeze in B.C. was implemented in 2012.

“If anything, if you look across the country and remember we are tracking the 50th percentile, that means people doing similar jobs across the country are making a lot more than they are,” Fuller said.

Chief medical officer Dr. Jatinder Baidwan was listed as the second-highest wage earner with total earnings of $316,946, with a base salary of $266,819.

Rounding out the top five were: chief operating officer Catherine Mackay at $314,989; chief financial officer Kim Kerrone at $298,446; and Kathryn MacNeil, executive vice-president for patient quality, safety and experience, at $278,216.

Island Health’s remuneration of $153,375 for its 11 board members for the fiscal year 2015-2016 has also been posted.

Chairman Don Hubbard, who earns a retainer of $15,000, attended 13 full-day meetings and five half-day meetings and was compensated a total of $22,750 in the last fiscal year.

The board chairman and directors receive $500 for each fullday meeting they attend, and $250 for a half-day meeting, according to Island Health’s board-compensation online report.

In the fall, the health authority will post its annual list of employees who receive pay and expenses of more than $75,000 — not including doctors. Most of the employees belong to a union such as the B.C. Nurses Union or the Health Sciences Association.

In 2014-2015, 3,724 Island Health employees earned more than $75,000.