Queen’s Park announces radical executive compensation reform: payment linked to performance

Queen’s Park announces radical executive compensation reform: payment linked to performance

Health Minister Deb Matthews says that the party is over for hospital bigwigs: not only will an undisclosed percentage of their pay be connected directly to their performance, but the bill—poetically dubbed Excellent Care for All—also kiboshes the dubious practice of covering up medical errors. The Star reports that if the proposed legislation passes,

quality teams will be set up in each hospital, and they’ll report directly to the board of directors. Each board will now have to examine how its hospital performs—from deadly infection rates to handwashing compliance—and must compare its rates to other institutions, then fix any problems.

Since the “Sunshine List” was released, showing how many in the health care sector were pulling in over half a million a year—which is hundreds of thousands more than the premier—Ontario has been looking for ways to fix executive compensation. We are all about getting what we pay for, but we can’t help but assume this will make some people hesitate before pursuing a career in the public sector. Hospital CEOs might become the laughing stock at parties. In between lighting cigars with $100 bills, private sector executives will point their fingers, reminding them that accountability is for chumps.

• Ontario to link hospital CEOs pay to quality of care [Globe and Mail]
Hospital CEO pay to be tied to performance [Toronto Star]