Hospitals across the region are cutting staff, elected officials are considering slashing Medicaid and Medicare funding and medical bills are driving an increasing number of Georgians into bankruptcy. But the six- to seven-digit compensation packages for the chief executives who lead metro Atlanta's taxpayer-subsidized hospitals remain untouched and in most cases are growing. Five of these CEOs made more than $1 million in the fiscal year ending in 2009, the last tax records available. Edward Bonn of Southern Regional Health System, which operates Southern Regional Medical Center and two affiliated facilities, made $2,610,175 in fiscal 2009. Bonn left the system that year and received his pay of $421,822 plus $2.2 million from a retirement plan. Hospital CEOs commonly receive extra pay from retirement plans when they leave.
