Erlanger Hospital is seen from the UTC library's balcony in this Dec. 9, 2014, file photo. Erlanger Health System trustees will put off reconsidering their controversial decision to award $1.7 million in bonuses until a later date, the board's chairman has announced.
The board had planned to revisit their Dec. 4 decision to award the bonuses at their upcoming meeting Thursday, following a public outcry over the bonuses being planned in closed meetings, and after the state attorney general concluded that such closed-door discussions were not lawful.
Chairman Donnie Hutcherson, who had called for a reconsideration of the vote after the AG opinion, said in a letter to trustees Monday that he had decided to delay the conversation after meeting last week with House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga and former Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey.
"Additional time is needed to provide more opportunity to share different perspectives as well as facts," Hutcherson said in a letter to board members. "With that said and with my support, they have requested that the board continue with the meeting scheduled for this coming Thursday evening, but defer any vote relating to these issues until a future board meeting. this will allow time for the trustees and legislators to consider the information shared at the meeting and to continue our dialogue to find the much desired common ground needed for a successful Erlanger."
Hutcherson said that the resolutions regarding the bonuses and CEO Kevin Spiegel's revised contract - which included a 10 percent pay raise - will be presented in a "comprehensive overview" at Thursday's meeting, and will include information from Jose Pagoaga a managing principal and executive pay expert with the independnt consulting firm Sullivan Cotter, who addressed the board at the original Dec. 4 meeting.
For more information, read Wednesday's Times Free Press.
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