Niagara Public May Eventually Get The Goods On Fired Hospital CEO’s Severance Package

By Doug Draper

In response to questioning from Ontario’s NDP leader Andrea Horwath, Health Minister Deb Matthews said this March 21 that the cost of the severance package for the Niagara Health System’s fired CEO Debbie Sevenpifer will eventually be made public.

Public may one day learn cost of Debbie Sevenpifer's severance package. File photo by Doug Draper

“The income of all the people who work in our health care sector with incomes over $100,000 do have that income reported on the sunshine list every year. That includes severance packages, so this information will become public,” said Matthews after Horwath asked her  “how many hundreds of thousands of dollars will Niagara families be on the hook for (Sevenpifer’s) sweetheart severance deal.

Sevenpifer, who made more than $340,000 a year in wages and benefits, and was one of the top paid bureaucrats in the region, was suddenly let go this past January by the Niagara Health System board responsible for managing the operations of most of the hospital services in Niagara. Her departure followed more than two years of public protest over a so-called “hospital improvement plan” that called for shifting  a number of acute care services, including those of emergency rooms, away from south Niagara and, ultimately, to a new super hospital complex being built in west St. Catharines.

Residents groups, including the south Niagara-based Yellow Shirt Brigade, fighting for fair access to acute care services for all the region’s residents, have demanded a full public disclosure of Sevenpifer’s severance package which is reportedly still under negotiation with the board.

Niagara At Large is posting below a March 21 media release from the Ontario NDP on this issue and, following that, a full text of the exchange between NDP leader Andrea Horwath and Health Minister Deb Mathews in the legislature.

Government out of touch on hospital CEO severance packages: NDP

Queen’s Park – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath demanded an end to super-sized severance packages for Hospital CEOs during Question Period today.

She raised the example of Warren Chant who was given a $300,000 dollar “golden handshake” when he was fired as CEO of Windsor’s Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital.

“What does it say about the McGuinty government’s priorities when it can find bucket loads of money for hospital executives but can’t get a shovel in the ground in a long-term care home promised 4 years ago?” Horwath asked.

Meanwhile the people of Niagara are still in the dark about the value of the “golden handshake” currently being negotiated with Debbie Sevenpifer who was fired as the CEO of the Niagara Health System a couple of months ago.

Horwath asked tough questions on the minds of every Niagaran:

“How many hundreds of thousands of dollars will Niagara families be on the hook for in this latest sweetheart severance package? And will the Premier make it public?”

The March 21 exchange between the NDP leader and Ontario health mnister.

Executive compensation

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to the Premier. Warren Chant was fired as Windsor Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital CEO. He received $300,000 in a severance package. What does it say about the McGuinty Liberal government’s priorities when it can find bucket loads of money for hospital executives but can’t get a shovel in the ground on a long-term-care facility that was promised four years ago?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: To the Minister of Health.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: I do want to say that the situation at Hôtel-Dieu Grace is such that we determined it was time to send in a supervisor. There were enough issues that warranted that rather extraordinary step, but it was a step that we thought was the right thing to do for the people of the Windsor area who rely on Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital. We have appointed a supervisor. That supervisor has taken stock of the situation at Hôtel-Dieu Grace and did make the decision to have a change in leadership.

It is an event that the supervisor has taken very carefully and very responsibly for the benefit of the people of Windsor. I look forward to the supplementary when I can provide an update on the new long-term-care home.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: This is not the only instance of golden handshakes for hospital CEOs. Reports indicate that the Niagara Health System is in the midst of severance negotiations with Debbie Sevenpifer after she was fired a couple of months ago. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars will Niagara families be on the hook for in this latest sweetheart severance deal? Will the Premier actually make that figure public?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: The member opposite knows that these severance packages are part of changing leadership, they are part of respecting contracts, and they are publicly available. The income of all the people who work in our health care sector with incomes over $100,000 do have that income reported on the sunshine list every year. That includes severance packages, so this information will become public.

(Share your comments on this issue below and visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region and beyond.)