Important local watchdog reporting here: These #Michigan hospitals paid executive bonuses just before #COVID19 pandemic — then got a taxpayer bailout https://www.freep.com/story/news/investigations/2020/10/23/beaumont-henry-ford-hospital-bonus-pandemic/5624789002/ via @freep

Two large nonprofit hospital systems, Beaumont Health and the Henry Ford Health System, awarded those bonuses in March.  And then, as the novel coronavirus caused a financial crisis at their hospitals, Beaumont and Henry Ford turned to the federal government for help.

Beaumont received $377 million in taxpayer funds, and Henry Ford collected $375 million, according to the two hospital systems.

How much did they award in bonuses, you ask? @BeaumontHealth and @HenryFordNews won’t say.

At Beaumont, the bonuses were awarded on March 13. On March 22, @BeaumontHealth CEO revealed in a @freep op-ed that the health system had spent weeks converting much of the eight-hospital system into a COVID-19 testing and treatment organization. He predicted a revenue implosion.

U.S. @RepAndyLevin whose district includes @BeaumontHealth largest campus, Royal Oak: “If they gave themselves big bonuses before asking for federal aid and furloughing lots of people, it's not acceptable."

@RepDebDingell said she told Fox in September that when the public learns Beaumont took a CARES Act bailout and also paid its top executives their bonuses,  it "is not going to play well. People are going to be really upset."

Not every nonprofit hospital system awarded bonuses on the eve of a pandemic. Livonia-based Trinity Health Michigan suspended its bonuses this year in response to the financial impact of #COVID19

Who’s on the other side of this story? Julie Perry. She worked as a physical therapist assistant at Beaumont in Royal Oak, and said her job was eliminated in April, after 33 years.

"I never thought I wouldn’t retire from Beaumont," said Perry, a widow who lives in Roseville with her son, daughter and two grandchildren.

And while she got a severance package — 16 weeks of pay — she said it's still been tough financially. She has a part-time job and is looking for full-time work. "I'm 58, people don't want to hire someone my age," Perry said.

What happened within weeks of the bonus awarded to top hospital execs? @BeaumontHealth reported a $278 million loss for the first quarter. After that financial setback, Beaumont laid off 2,700 workers and eliminated 450 positions.

But @BeaumontHealth has an oversight board, right? Right. "The Free Press reached out to 14 directors on Beaumont's board to ask about the payment of bonuses when a pandemic was on the horizon. Few were willing to talk."

"One of the directors, Dr. Robert Williams, said he could not recall any discussion about the bonuses. Martha Quay, another director, said ...she would have to check her notes, but wasn't at home to do so, and then hung up. A third director, Gerson Cooper, declined to comment."