Bartlett board defends salary for new CEO Chuck Bill

Kristen Bomengen and Bob Storer
Bartlett Regional Hospital board president Kristen Bomengen and vice president Bob Storer met with the Juneau Assembly on Wednesday to defend the compensation package the board offered new CEO Chuck Bill. (Photo by Casey Kelly/KTOO)

The Bartlett Regional Hospital board of directors is defending the compensation package it offered new CEO Chuck Bill.

Board president Kristen Bomengen and vice president Bob Storer met with the Juneau Assembly on Wednesday to discuss the issue at the request of Assemblyman Randy Wanamaker. They said Bill’s salary of $315,000 and two signing bonuses worth a total of $63,000 were developed with input from board members and Human Resources Director Mila Cosgrove.

Storer said discussions about compensation started with the search committee, which included two doctors and two public members.

“So we used all of that in developing what I would call broad guidelines,” Storer said.

The city-owned hospital also hired a consultant, which made a recommendation based on the average salary of non-profit hospital CEOs nationwide. Bomengen said Bill’s salary is between the 50th and the 75th percentile of that average.

“In fact, the analysis that we were provided with encouraged us around the 65th level,” Bomengen said. “So we feel we fell within that range very comfortably.”

She said a $31,500 signing bonus and a relocation fee for the same amount were added during negotiations with Bill.

Previous Bartlett CEO Chris Harff’s annual salary was $262,000.

Wanamaker provided a list of written questions, but said he had more. He said he only learned about Bill’s compensation through media reports.

“But before even the media released it, members of the public were contacting me to let me know that they had learned about it, and they were not pleased with it,” Wanamaker said.

Bomengen and Storer said the board attempted to contact each assembly member before the news was announced. Assembly members Loren Jones, Jesse Kiehl and Karen Crane said they were notified.

Bartlett board members are appointed by the Juneau Assembly.

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