Matthew 21:12 Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying… 13 He said to them, “It is written,

‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’;
but you are making it a den of robbers.”

"Rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus as healer, we commit ourselves to serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable." – Ascension Health Mission.

"Last year we made more money than HCA" – reported statement of Ascension Health CEO

  My friend was deeply frustrated. A hospital leader in a faith-based health system he had a right to be. "We're supposed to be advancing mission," he said. "Yet the top executives & board are so focused on money they don't care." 

   His exasperation stems from the insidious nature of the system's bonus structure. Unless money targets are met no other performance measures matter even though this charity will clear tens of millions in profits. 

   Stunned, I continued. "Do you mean that superb quality outcomes & peak patient satisfaction are irrelevant if you don't meet budget?"

   His response dripped with sarcasm: "No margin no mission."

   This terrible sentence infiltrated faith-based hospitals decades ago. Although it is technically true, health system leaders now seem to think: "Only margin matters." 

   Money has shoved love aside. Nuns & chaplains who once symbolized charity are complicit in "mission fraud" if they do not protest staff cuts made to meet profit goals that sometimes exceed 20% of net revenue. 

   Hospital charities tell tax authorities they are different. How?

   But taxing is not the main problem. Charitable & for-profit systems face the same challenge: Patients seek mission-based healthcare. But money-obsessed hospitals compromise care. 

   Lest I seem sanctimonious I was well-paid as a CEO. But, during my 12 years as President of OhioHealth's 10-hospital, 11,000-employee system, my salary never exceeded ten times a nurse's starting salary. 

   If that still seems high, note this: some healthcare CEOs now earn as much as one hundred times the salary of a first line caregiver. In 2017 Ascension Health CEO Tony Tersigni shredded that multiple. He earned $17.5 million, more than three hundred times one of his first line nurses. 

   People used to envy doctor's hard-earned incomes. Clearly, many charity executives now make way more – in part because their chief focus is bottom line dollars not first line caregivers. While doctors & nurses are caring for patient's health, executives are hyper-focused on financial health, not mission health.  

   Unfortunately, clerics, executives, board members, legislators & investigative newspeople will continue to do nothing.

   Hospitals should be as sacred as any "temple." Sadly, "the money-changers" have taken charge. 

   You may feel helpless. So do I. 

-Rev. Erie Chapman

Note: This piece represents the author's view & not necessarily that of Erie Chapman Foundation