Pay for Caritas CEO rose $1M in ’09

Ralph de la Torre, former CEO of Boston-based Caritas Christi Health Care, drew a total pay package of $2.2 million from the Catholic hospital system in 2009, making him the best-compensated hospital executive in Boston that year, according to documents filed with the state attorney general's office. The package, which included base salary, a performance bonus, and incentive compensation linked to improving finances at the hospital chain, marked an increase from the $1.2 million de la Torre earned from Caritas in 2008. He arrived in May that year after being recruited from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. De la Torre is currently CEO of fast-growing Steward Health Care System, a network of eight community hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts. Steward was formed by New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which acquired Caritas last year. Its hospitals include St. Elizabeth's Medical Center and Carney Hospital in Boston. Because of a reporting lag, 2009 is the most recent year for which hospital executive compensation is reported to the attorney general's office. It plans to unveil new guidelines next year that would require more timely reporting in the future for all nonprofit public charities. Most hospitals in the state fall in to that category.