Erlanger Health System President and CEO Kevin M. Spiegel.A day after state lawmakers criticized Erlanger Health System trustees for awarding $1.7 million in executive bonuses, hospital officials say a threat by lawmakers to bar the board from meeting privately would cripple the health system financially.
The majority of the public hospital board's meetings are public, but a 2008 state law allows trustees to meet privately with staff for strategic planning.
Joseph Winick, vice president of planning, analytics and business development at the hospital, said in an email Wednesday there was "no way Erlanger could survive" if the board wasn't able to discuss certain aspects of the business behind closed doors.
Staff and trustees talk about attracting new doctors, buying or selling property or acquiring new technology. If the meetings were open, hospitals such as Parkridge Medical Center or Memorial Hospital could "cherry pick" new opportunities, Winick said.
"Conducting our business meetings in an open forum would be like telling the competition about our next play -- we would get beat every time."
But on Tuesday, state delegates told county officials they were looking for ways to make delegate-appointed hospital trustees more accountable.
One of those ways was potentially rescinding the 2008 law that allows the strategic planning meetings.
Legislators were irked after hospital trustees on Thursday awarded 99 managers at the health system $1.7 million in bonuses. That block included a $234,669 bonus for President and CEO Kevin Spiegel -- which brought Spiegel's pay this year to $914,669.
Sen. Todd Gardenhire said the trustees tried to build consensus for the bonus vote during a private meeting. The board of trustees has denied making any decisions in private.
Trustee Jennifer Stanley said the bonuses were based on financial and quality benchmarks set more than a year ago, and the trustees had little choice but to honor them after the hospital turned a profit for the first time in three years.
Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.