Above-average costs for a public hospital | Letter to the editor

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Read that CEO Mike Glenn (Jefferson General) has gotten two pay raises  based on “you get what you pay for” and “we’re lucky to have him.”

Never had a raise based on the mid range of what my peers in other companies were getting and never a 24 percenter in an inflationary market.

The average of the CEO salaries mentioned in the article comes out to $328,100 (not $350,000) and the average number of beds in these similar hospitals is 42 (not 25 like Jefferson General).

The fact that the hospital is momentarily financially sound would be deserving of a raise but this is a public hospital and should be nonprofit and not by overpaying the CEO rather than lowering costs to the patients it serves. 

For example, a colonoscopy with biopsy at Olympic Medical Center, CPT code 45380 with no insurance, costs $3,682, while at Jefferson General, $8,713.

Let me further point out Olympic Medical Center’s CEO is the lowest paid ($211,478) and has the most beds (67) so who’s lucky to have whom?

Gregg Knowles
PORT HADLOCK