Taxpayers pay $100K of severance for COO at bankrupt NJ hospital

Former COO Spiros Hatiras will receive a $600,000 severance package from the Hoboken University Medical Center even though the agency that oversees the hospital is not obligated to pay it. And what Hoboken taxpayers may find more appalling is that they are on the hook for $100,000 of that package. Hatiras, who resigned on July 14, was CEO for just two years. According to a resolution approved by the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority, the city-created agency that oversees the city-owned hospital, new owners HUMC Holdco LLC are responsible for 80%, or $500,000, and the city is responsible for the remaining $100,000. But under the terms on the Hatiras' contract, the severance package would be paid only in the event he was fired, his contract expired, or his contract was not renewed. Both by his own admission and the wording of the resolution, Hatiras resigned from the position.