OSF cuts exec pay, takes other measures in reaction to financial challenge
Peoria-based OSF HealthCare, which operates Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton among many others, is reducing salaries of top executive and taking other measures in reaction to current conditions.
“It is important for the communities OSF has been called to serve for more than 142 years that we stabilize our financial position and protect our culture so we can continue to serve those communities, and our Mission Partners and their families in Illinois and Michigan,” said Mike Allen, CFO, OSF HealthCare. “Our priority remains equipping our frontlines with the resources they need to ensure the continuation of essential care, while protecting those providing that care.”
To that end, OSF is reducing the salaries of its top executives by at 5 percent, with some leaders taking a 10 percent reduction.
OSF was one of the first to rapidly deploy digital health-care options, which allows thousands to have their needs addressed while staying safely at home. But that has prompted concerns, too, about finances.
Inpatient services, surgeries, clinic and other volumes have decreased significantly over the last three weeks as non-essential services have been shut down. Revenue has dropped substantially over that same time period.
For the past several weeks, OSF has continued to staff its facilities according to the volume of patients being cared for. As volumes have continued to decline, OSF has been reviewing all options, including moving Mission Partners on a volunteer basis to other areas of need during the crisis. Retraining and moving Mission Partners has already been occurring across the Ministry, particularly in southwest Chicago at the health system’s newest hospital, OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center, where the number of positive cases remains high.
Moving forward for the short term, most non-patient-facing Mission Partners will be subject to mandatory paid time off or, in some cases, unpaid leaves of absence, during which they can apply for the enhanced unemployment benefits enacted by the government. Mission Partners will retain seniority and years of service and will continue to have benefits available during this time, including health insurance.
OSF is preparing to move into the next phase of its digital response to COVID-19, offering new ways of caring for individuals in their homes, and within its facilities, with digital solutions. OSF is in the process of filling these pandemic health worker roles with Mission Partners eligible to make the transition. This program is open to non-clinical staff as well as licensed clinicians and providers.
PHOTO: OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton. File
