This RI Nonprofit CEO Makes $2M Plus a Bonus - His Company Is Holding a Telethon

This RI Nonprofit CEO Makes $2M Plus a Bonus - His Company Is Holding a Telethon

According to tax documents, Lifespan’s CEO Tim Babineau received more than $2.2 million in compensation. His pay is $1,928,054 in salary and $318,064 in additional compensation.

These documents are for 2019 — the most recent year available.

And in 2020, during the pandemic, top managers at the corporation received bonuses while receiving more than $100 million from the federal CARES Act.

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The then-President of Rhode Island Hospital, Margaret Van Bree, earned more than $1 million in compensation. She has since left the company.

Now, the corporation is going out asking Rhode Islanders to support a telethon this spring.

In the backdrop, Lifespan is in the midst of a mega-merger with Care New England worth upwards of more than a billion dollars.

 

Management Bonuses

As GoLocal reported in October, Lifespan gave out “special management compensation” bonuses to top execs — after reportedly receiving more than a hundred million dollars in federal CARES Act funds during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Lifespan — which refused to say just how much CARES Act funding they have received to date — defended the bonuses. 

“This fiscal year Lifespan provided a one-time performance recognition award to a very small number of mid-level managers who went above and beyond in their service during the COVID-19 crisis, working hundreds of extra hours on nights and weekends without being compensated because they are salaried employees,” said Lifespan spokesperson Kathleen Hart in October.

“This one-time recognition award is not annualized into the employee’s base salary and does not have any impact on annual merit increases for non-management employees," she added. 

 

Telethon

Now, Lifespan’s largest hospital — Rhode Island Hospital — is holding a telethon, despite the company receiving hundreds of millions in taxpayer support.

The billion-dollar hospital group is also in the midst of a merger plan that will create the largest corporation in Rhode Island—one with upwards of 20,000 employees if the Lifespan and Care New England merger is approved

It was announced that “Rhode Island Hospital, in partnership with NBC 10 WJAR, will celebrate its excellence in care during the inaugural Day of Giving on Thursday, March 25, 2021…[and] will showcase the hospital’s commitment to patient-centered care and its responsiveness to the ongoing global pandemic while raising critical funds in support of its lifesaving mission."

 

Federal Support

Rhode Island’s “transparency” portal shows two Lifespan hospitals receiving CARES Act funds — Miriam Hospital at $21,011,844.77 and Bradley Hospital — listed under “Emma Pendleton Bradley Hospital” — receiving $3,637,531.

The state program differs from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ program, which shows $71 million going to five Rhode Island hospitals — and per Congressman Jim Langevin’s announcement in July, nearly $50 million of that went to two Lifespan hospitals — Rhode Island Hospital and Miriam. 

Lifespan’s CFO, however, reportedly told bondholders in September that the group’s hospitals have received $130 million in federal aid so far.