What is ahead for Washington Hospital?
WTAE-TV reported in August on the leasing of a private jet by UPMC just months prior to the layoff of about 1,000 workers. The jet’s use is to ferry their people back and forth between Pittsburgh and countries in which it owns hospitals. These include Ireland, Italy, and Croatia.
The aircraft has also been utilized for travel to cities where no facilities are owned by them, including Montreal, San Francisco, Seattle, Boca Raton, Fla., and Palm Beach, Fla. Might these cities be on their hit list for other hospitals or systems to be gobbled up, much as has occurred with the takeover of our own Washington Health System? We may only speculate as the reasons for these visits have not been revealed.
Reported also is the payoff of $17.8 million to former CEO Jeffrey Romoff in 2022, a year after he retired and was no longer an employee of UPMC. This was in the face of reported financial losses in recent years and, of course, the layoff of 1,000 people.
When asked about Romoff’s compensation, UPMC Board Chair John Surma said, and I paraphrase, that he was not at liberty to comment. Fair enough. But he also opined, “It is what it is”. In other words (mine): It stinks. We know it stinks and we will be doing nothing about it.
What do these issues portend for Washington Hospital workers? What is in store for our current hospital executives? We will find out over the next two years, five years, and further down the road.
Douglas T. Corwin Jr.
East Washington
Douglas T. Corwin Jr. is a member of East Washington Borough Council.