Raises, bonuses prevail for hospital CEOs

Most top executives at Montana's largest hospitals received raises and bonuses that increased their six-figure salaries for 2010 or fiscal 2011—and at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, executives had a huge payout in 2010 that officials described as an anomaly. John Goodnow, the CEO at Benefis, took home $1.9 million in total compensation for 2010, and four other top executives at the state’s third-largest hospital more than doubled their salary that year with big one-time payouts, each of them receiving total compensation ranging from $500,000 to $700,000. Still, most top executives, medical directors and specialist physicians at Montana's largest nonprofit hospitals continue to command salaries in the mid- to high-six figures.