Friday, August 8, 2008

County health system's interim finance chief to be paid $36,000 a month

You know the county health system is one reason Cook County is reported to have the largest sales tax in the nation...
The temporary chief financial officer for Cook County's troubled health system stands to make up to $216,000 for six months' work under a deal approved Thursday by a new independent board.

Interim CFO Pitt Calkin, who started last month, will get $1,800 a day but get paid for no more than 20 days a month, said David Small, himself recently promoted to interim chief executive officer of the health system.

Calkin's salary was greenlighted as part of an amendment to a contract with MedAssets Net Revenue Systems of Georgia, hired by the County Board in March under a three-year, $18 million deal to help retool the health system's finances.

The salary, which amounts to $36,000 a month, drew immediate fire.

"I think a lot of us who supported the independent board thought it would provide more rigorous financial accountability, but this doesn't sound like a very responsible use of the taxpayers' dollars," said Commissioner Forrest Claypool (D-Chicago), a critic of how the system was run under County Board President Todd Stroger. "It's hard to believe they would have to spend that kind of money to bring in a CFO."

But Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D- Evanston), who backed the county's controversial one-cent-per-dollar sales tax increase in exchange for establishing the new health board, said the decision did not upset him.

"I'm only troubled if he doesn't do the job," Suffredin said. "I think at this point, if they are an independent board, they have to make independent judgments to do what they believe is necessary to stabilize the system."

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