She got the gold mine, we got the shaft
The story of paying Portland-area bureaucrats obscene amounts of money to leave their public jobs and not say anything about what went on behind closed doors got quite a bit weirder last Friday afternoon with this story in the Weed, which has already been buried:
On Aug. 7, Oregon Health & Science University made an abrupt internal announcement: Its chief lawyer, Alice Cuprill Comas, would be retiring that very day. She had been on family leave for weeks, OHSU said, and felt the need to turn her full attention to the health of an ailing parent.
But there was an additional dynamic at play between OHSU and Cuprill Comas that the medical center did not publicize or answer questions about at the time: an exit agreement in which OHSU agreed to say nice things about her—and pay her $1.8 million in severance pay.
The document, dated Aug. 7 and titled “Resignation Agreement and Mutual General Release,” turns out to have been significant. In the agreement, obtained Thursday by WW through a public records request, OHSU agreed to pay Cuprill Comas $1,791,990.36—the equivalent of 24 months’ base pay—plus an additional $20,250, while she agreed not to file legal claims against the institution....
The nine-page document included agreed-upon language that OHSU would “exclusively” use in communications about Cuprill Comas’ separation from employment—whether OHSU was speaking with the press, faculty, students, donors or trustees.
The form statement it would use when characterizing the separation is Exhibit A in the agreement, and a version of it was indeed used in OHSU’s Aug. 7 internal announcement of Cuprill Comas’s retirement.
There really ought to be a law against this sort of thing. But it's pretty clear that the politicians in Oregon are never going to pass one. I guess the only answer would be a ballot initiative. Add it to the long list.
As for OHSU, well, the management up there has gotten so bad that it's really past time to start talking about breaking the institution up and radically reorganizing it. In the short term, the directors or trustees or whatever all need to "retire" – without a severance,
"... it's really past time to start talking about breaking the institution up and radically reorganizing it."
ReplyDeleteCue Governor Drazan.
Good bye, women's health care.
DeleteThere's no way in hell I could vote for a Republican. If the country doesn't change direction soon, there's no sense in trying to save Oregon.
DeleteI’m not voting for her either. But the wind definitely feels different today than it did four years ago. Oregon Democrats are due a swift kick in the rear. It may take Drazan winning to deliver it.
DeleteI'm starting to see Oregon now like New Jersey in 1972. Machine politics at its worst, but better than that gang who gave us Nixon. And nowadays, multiply that sentiment by 100.
DeleteI needn’t remind you who won New Jersey in 1972, nor who the Governor was.
DeleteSomething must have been wrong with the voting machines, heh.
DeleteShe was making $900k a year?!
ReplyDeleteThat’s even more outrageous than the severance.
DeleteSome sweet PERS there.
DeleteThe system is designed to pay off people to keep their mouth shut about how they make the sausage. If if you know too much, you might have a freak accident. The Epstein list gets bigger every day.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be more common for people to go into a public position so they could get some real-world experience in their field, before moving into the more-lucrative private sector. Some thought 'public service' was important, and they made that their career path.
ReplyDeleteObviously, we need to offer public salaries that enable us to hire qualified people, but there weren't the expectations that there are nowadays - fabulous pay / benefits / travel / car / retreats / severance / help finding a new job when they leave. And, as you say, a NDA, so nobody knows if they were a f*ck-up or-what.
What you cite here is appalling, the Ivory Mathews situation was equally so. I can only imagine how many others there are.
Stay tuned for Raymond Lee, who got an NDA as he and his posse left Greeley, Colorado. He'll probably get all that and a big check, too, when he leaves Portland and rejoins his wie and kids in Texas.
DeleteIt wasn't that long ago that OHSU and Legacy Health were trying to merge with OHSU running the show. Imagine that snake pit.
ReplyDeleteIt was a ridiculous idea. OHSU already took over Tuality Hospitals, Portland Adventist, PSU Public Health.
DeleteOHSU spent several million dollars on the merger proposal that was determined by outside analysis to contribute to a monopoly/antitrust situation for healthcare in Portland and suburbs which likely would not improve healthcare delivery or outcomes. Plus, almost every level of education there already (students to staff) involves going to outside hospitals, clinics, etc. either for education or side work. It was such a horrid waste of money.
“We can’t be put into a position where every time somebody leaves at the senior level we have to pay them on their way out the door.”
ReplyDelete- Ted Wheeler, in 2018
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/investigations/portland-commissioner-wont-explain-six-figure-severance-payout/283-552836985
Haha…look what’s happened.
Delete