NH hospital CEO salaries not an answer to Medicaid challenges, analysts say

Exeter Health Resources officials said "reductions in management compensation" were made in advance of the recent reduction of 110 full-time-equivalent positions and closure of Exeter Healthcare, but declined to comment on specifics of those reductions. The salaries of hospital executives, along with hospital spending on expansion, was recently thrust into the spotlight with the state responding to the Medicaid lawsuit filed by 10 state hospitals, including Exeter Health Resources, parent company of Exeter Hospital. The state argued the hospitals could handle the Medicaid reimbursement cuts based on their operating profits, chief executive officer salaries and aggressive expansion over the last 10 years. While Exeter Health Resources referenced "reductions in management compensation" in a Sept. 15 news release about their recent cuts, officials declined to elaborate on what that meant and declined an interview request from Seacoast Sunday.