Considering the amount of ire that has risen over the past year regarding the Sun Country Health Region, and both its administrative personnel as well as the board appointed by Health Minister Don McMorris, I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the paper this morning.
It has been announced that there will now be raises and bonuses for the higher-end administrative staff of the health regions, going anywhere up to 37 percent.
The rational for this is that, relative to other provinces, these executive positions pay on a lower scale.
That may well be, but I don't see many posting for executive health region officials laying about (after a quick search of Saskjobs.ca)
Now, what I did notice was the many postings for in-scope professionals for the health regions . . . you know, the jobs where the people who do them have been without contracts for years at a time?
Bringing the topic back to the region executives, do any of you know what Cal Tant was making annually before he was removed from his position? Or what Hal Schmidt was being paid for his services?
Before I share the details of those facts with you, let me inform you of what many likely know, and those who aren't aware should know.
The province requires the health regions to post, online, annual financial reports that detail each and every executive's salary, travel expenses, bonuses, vacation pay, and all those other interesting things.
Further, any person or agency who has received equal to or more than $50,000 a year, whether a salary or lump-sum payment, or any combination thereof, is also recorded in the report.
Want to know how much your nurse is earning? If it is in excess of $50,000, you can find out.
So if you want to know what Cal Tant was paid for the year 2009/2010, you can easily get the number: $177,062.
For just about every other executive on the Sun Country team, including Hal Schmidt, their annual salaries were at $139,987.
Now, frankly, I can see how getting paid like that might turn someone off from working an executive management job . . . NOT!
As I had postulated earlier in this column, I really don't think that the issue of pay rates for the health region executives has really created any kind of shortage in executive management.
On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if the foot dragging which has been so evident from the health ministry regarding coming to terms with the so-called 'front line' employees in the healthcare system has had a detrimental affect on the ability to fill those positions.
Those front line positions, representing everything from x-ray technicians, physiotherapists, cooks, cleaning staff and receptionists have been working without contracts in some cases for up to two-and-a-half years.
A further complaint I have about this whole situation also relates to the reasoning given for the raises, as well as the paradigm being used to justify this.
The statement is that the executives are not earning enough.
Enough relative to what, one might ask.
Relative to Alberta, seems to be the patented reply these days.
Alberta?
Alberta has four-and-a-half times the population of Saskatchewan.
This means four-and-a-half more times people, on average, for the health regions to deal with.
I would argue that comparing wages between an executive in a Saskatchewan health region to the wages of an executive in an Alberta health region makes no sense at all.
We keep getting told by both the present federal and provincial governments that we have to have our crown and service concerns treated and acting more like corporations.
But I'll tell you, if you expect to move into corporate business, and get paid as much as an area manager in Toronto when you are working out of the Guelph office, you've got another thing coming.
I think raises and pay increases are alternately earned and needed by employees.
Sometimes, due to the growing cost of living, an increase should be given to ensure that the valuation of the employees wage doesn't drop, whether they are doing a good job, or they are just meeting requirements, these one-to-three percent annual raises worked into many contracts make sense.
For doing an incredibly good job, actual raises are earned.
So let me ask you, if you follow the provincial news, have you heard of any health regions or executives that deserve a raise for doing an incredibly good job?
