South County Hospital's CEO Salary Jumps 60% in 2 Years During Upheaval
GoLocalProv News Team
South County Hospital's CEO Salary Jumps 60% in 2 Years During Upheaval
But patients, doctors, and community members blame the hospital's top executives for the economic and financial chaos.
Critics point to President and CEO Aaron Robinson’s leadership for the problems at the hospital.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDr. Steven Fera, a long-time cardiologist who recently left the hospital in May, told GoLocal in a phone conversation on Thursday night, “He [Robinson] is a terrible leader. Whether it is the maintenance people who point the walls or the physicians, he has ignored nearly everyone’s ideas.”
“He simply does not want to hear from anyone,” said Fera.
More than 100 attended a press briefing on Thursday calling for a change in leadership.
According to the press release from the group, Christine Siravo, a South Kingstown resident, said that during COVID, she was diagnosed with stage three cancer. It brought a blur to life and a whirlwind of activity, but her personal physician, Dr. John O’Leary, and Cancer Center Director, Dr. Angela Tabor, helped her to know she would be cared for, hope existed to fight the disease, and it could be done at South County Hospital rather than a large one in Boston or New York.
"South County Hospital had been her go-to hospital for 55 years. The Oncology Department staff became a second family to her, she said. Then various decisions by management led to key staff members, including the center's director, submitting their resignations in frustration. Two physicians from the Westerly office have also now resigned," said the group.
“Recently, someone who has also been diagnosed with cancer asked me for a recommendation, and I was saddened to say, ‘Don’t go to South County Hospital...I have no idea who will be in the Oncology Department for you or whether there will be any kind of continuity of care,” she said. “The current chief executive officer, chief medical officer, and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees are failing miserably ...The only feasible solution is to replace these people as soon as possible and take back our remarkable community hospital.”
Jared Aaronson, 84, of South Kingstown, suffered a heart attack in 2013, according to the group's press release. Cardiac rehabilitation became the key to his emotional and physical survival for the next nine years. In 2020, it was discontinued, and supporters created a petition to convince Robinson to continue the program.
Aaronson requested a 15-minute meeting to present this petition to let Robinson know patients' concerns about the closing of the rehab center.
"His secretary said 'someone' would get back to me. No one did. As a result, I stopped my annual donation, which I had contributed to the hospital for the past eight years," Aaronson said.
"We need a change in management so there are people who listen to people," he added.
Exploding Compensation
While more and more questions have been raised about the hospital's leadership and economic performance, Robinson's compensation has dramatically increased.
Robinson took over the leadership position of South County in April 2019.
He replaced long-time CEO Louis Giancola, who retired. He was well respected and had a reputation as a top administrator in New England, having held a top leadership position at the Lahey Clinic (now Lahey Hospital and Medical Center) in Burlington, MA.
Giancola, in his last year at the hospital, received a compensation package that included $392,300 in salary and $26,348 in additional compensation — a total of $418,648.
Robinson, in his first ending September 20, 2020, was paid $442,480 and an additional $13,155 — $455,635.
Then, Robinson’s salary exploded. Despite the declining economic performance of South County, his salary rocketed.
In the most recent year of publicly available documents — South County lost more than $4.6 million, and simultaneously, Robinson’s compensation jumped to $757,503 — a 60% increase in two years. South County had run surpluses the previous decade plus.
GoLocal asked Matt Moeller, a spokesperson for the hospital, what justified the compensation increase — he refused to answer.