QUINTE HEALTH CARE PAYS MANAGEMENT TEAM 3-5% PERFORMANCE BONUSES WHILE FRONTLINERS CAPPED AT 1%
Management payouts come as thousands of frontline workers continue to wait for Pandemic Pay despite it being announced on April 25
Richmond Hill, Ontario — Quinte Health Care, which owns and operates hospitals that provide primary and secondary care services, is paying out hefty bonuses ranging from 3-5% to their senior management team, despite the Ontario government’s Bill 124 limiting public sector workers, including nurses and other hospital staff, to 1% yearly compensation increases.
In total, $46,991 in bonuses will be paid to senior management at Quinte Health Care, with President and CEO Mary Clare Egberts receiving the biggest payout of $16,308, on top of her $351,244 annual salary. Chief of Staff Dr. Colin MacPherson will get a bonus of $8,698 added to his $187,350 annual salary, while VPs Carol Smith Romeril, Jeff Hohenkerk and Brad Harrington will see $5,753 added to their $206,505 salaries.
These payouts come as thousands of frontline hospital workers at Quinte Health Care are still waiting for the Ontario government’s promised Pandemic Pay, which gives an increase of $4 per hour to select frontline healthcare workers. This temporary increase was announced on April 25 but still hasn’t been paid to the frontline workers who are in direct risk as they fight against COVID-19. In addition, hundreds of essential frontline workers at Quinte Health Care have been wrongfully excluded from Pandemic Pay by the Ontario government, including pharmacy and lab technicians, diagnostic imaging staff, occupational therapy assistants and physiotherapy assistants, and certain administrative staff.
Statement from SEIU Healthcare President Sharleen Stewart:
“These large bonus payouts are just another example of our healthcare dollars being spent in the wrong places.
While the frontline workers at Quinte Health Care who are putting themselves at risk every day have had their wages capped below inflation and continue to wait for their Pandemic Pay, hospital executives are receiving tens of thousands in bonuses.
We continue to call on the Ontario government to repeal Bill 124 and eliminate the 1% compensation cap on public sector workers. If management isn’t having their compensation capped, why are the frontline workers who keep our healthcare system running?”
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SEIU Healthcare represents more than 60,000 healthcare and community service workers across Ontario. The union’s members work in hospitals, homecare, nursing and retirement homes, and community services throughout the province. www.seiuhealthcare.ca