LHSC has restructured. So how much more is paid out to executive salaries now? It’s unclear
The London Health Sciences Center (LHSC) has recently restructured its managerial staff and created new positions, including President positions at both Victoria Hospital and University Hospital. London morning‘s Rebecca Zandbergen spoke to LHSC CEO Jackie Schleifer Taylor to learn more.
Q: How many new admins have been hired? How many new roles are there?
A: Well, Rebecca, it’s not really about new roles. In fact, LHSC has undergone a reorganization of the entire organization. We did this for two reasons. One was that we are still in a pandemic and that in two and a half years we have learned really well how to help as many patients as possible, especially now that there is such a need for care.
At the same time, the reality is that the healthcare system is changing and because of what we are – research intensive, acute care, tertiary, quaternary, teaching hospital – we hold a very special place in the healthcare system, particularly in Southwest Ontario. We must be part of this transformation of the healthcare system and carry the lessons of the pandemic into the future. The reorganization of the entire LHSC led to a reorganization of leadership that began at the executive level.
Q: The restructuring is internal, but I think people would like to know about salaries. Has overall executive pay increased, and by how much?
A: Restructuring is not about making things work better for me or the organization internally. Restructuring is about how we can better serve our community at the local, regional and provincial levels. I don’t know if Londoners are aware of the jewel that LHSC represents in our size and position in the healthcare system. We have 15,000 employees in our organization, which ranks us second in Canada for company size of hospitals per employee. Our reorganization was a look at this community of 15,000 internally and how we needed to be better structured from top to bedside to support care, our core mission, and London is growing. London is not a static community and we just had to stop and embrace the challenges of the pandemic that are still with us and look to the future that we have to make for this community and reflect on this need for restructuring.
Q: I’ll just ask the question again. Do you have a number of salaries paid earlier compared to today and whether they have increased?
A: Salary and structure is comparable to our peer group, which is a subset of all hospitals in the province, about 14 like us, serving our specific mandate. Forty-three percent of our services are packaged to be there for Londoners, they are here for Middlesex-London, the region and the province. We’ve looked at our comparison group, these 14 hospitals, to think about size and structure, and there’s comparability with that.
Q: But can you give me the number before LHSC and now?
A: Regarding…
Q: Regarding salaries paid to executives?
A: I don’t have that number in my head.
Q: Do you know if it went up?
A: I know it’s comparable to our peers.
Q: But you don’t know if it went up?
A: I don’t have that exact info off the bat, no.
Q: We hear about caregiver shortages all the time, and the folks on the floor are the ones they’d like to see more of. Where do we stand with staff shortages?
A: Oh my god. Staffing is a challenge across the healthcare system, but we’ve never backed down on our efforts, aggressive efforts, to recruit new staff, and in fact, over the last 12 months, from September 2021 to this month, we’ve hired 2,408 I guess to new LHSC team members, and that’s because we’ve taken every opportunity to work with the government, Ontario Health, the Department of Health, our local providers, and have been really thoughtful and diligent and aggressive in pursuing the hiring of all levels of staffing provider roles. We cannot underestimate the effort and positive results that come from this, as this is vital to the delivery of services. What we need to focus on now is crucial.
Q: For people who are in long lines in the ER or waiting for a bed and feel like they’re not being served and I know this is a struggle for everyone so it’s certainly not an attack on LHSC but what do you tell them
A: I am saying that we are doing everything we can to ensure the supply is claimed as soon as possible. I could also take this moment to say that there is no one who doesn’t think about it every day, basically the patients waiting to come in for the patients, it’s stressful for the staff who are so keen on getting care on time would like, and this delay, which has been impacted by the pandemic and has only been exacerbated over time, is something we think about every day and we are addressing several possibilities, including hiring staff, virtual care, different delivery models for the care etc.
Q: It sounds like you’re hoping that this reorganization will somehow seep down and support a system where it improves. Am I right?
A: This restructuring has been 100 percent about supporting those at the intersection of care. 100 percent of that effort is aimed at seeing more patients in a timely manner.
The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.