Good news for Valley Children’s Hospital overshadowed by executive’s high pay

Since last winter, when it was ranked among the top 3% in the country as a children’s hospital, Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera has had many other opportunities to celebrate a cherished institution that protects the health of our youngest residents.

In December, Valley Children’s was one of only eight children’s hospitals recognized by The Leapfrog Group for achievements in patient safety and quality of care.

The hospital, the largest pediatric hospital in the Valley and the 16th largest in the country, has had other reasons to toast its success:

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▪ Last month, the International World Ag Expo delivered a $101,457.32 check to Valley Children’s Healthcare from the raffle of a pickup truck. Since 2015, such raffles have raised more than $730,000.

▪ In May, Valley Children’s Hospital became the first hospital in California – and only the second in the country – to be awarded the prestigious Sustainable Healthcare Certification by The Joint Commission for its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and combat climate change.

▪ Also in May, the hospital received a $15 million donation to create an advanced bone cell therapy program for pediatric cancer. Children who need transformational cancer therapies will no longer be sent to Los Angeles or the Bay area.

▪ Last month, the hospital’s Precision Medicine Program announced it was the first team in the nation to employ a revolutionary genetic test that can quickly let a doctor know if their patient is at higher risk of hearing damage from a type of antibiotic (aminoglycoside). The doctor can then choose a different course of care to treat an infection.

But a black cloud in the form of the eye-catching compensation for hospital CEO Todd Suntrapak (almost $5.2 million in the 2021-22 tax year) continues to eclipse those bright spots.

Suntrapak is not the only hospital executive who enjoys a generous payday. His compensation, along with 22 other senior vice presidents and vice presidents, totaled more than $25.3 million that year, according to reporting by Fresno Bee reporter Tim Sheehan.

Thus far, Suntrapak has not been transparent about his salary or those of other high-paid executives. In the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022, Suntrapak and five other Valley Children’s executives received a total compensation of more than $1 million.

In an interview last month with ABC 30, Suntrapak said he has no input on his salary and instead relies on the board of directors to determine his pay. “I don’t choose what my compensation is. Our board determines what the appropriate compensation is for the CEO, and they rely upon external experts to advise them, and to do quite a bit of analysis, then they make a determination,” said Suntrapak in that June interview.

That is an inadequate response. As a non-profit organization, the non-profit must itemize its highest paid officers in a tax form that is ultimately available to the public. It was in March when 2021-22 tax records showed the exorbitant salaries for hospital executives like Suntrapak.

Subsequent reporting by The Fresno Bee’s Erik Galicia and Sheehan has revealed the hospital reinvested the lowest amount of money into its region (only 2% of its total expenses on community benefits, while the next lowest hospitals were at 6% and 23%); the hospital assets are more than $2 billion, most of it in savings, investments, land, buildings and equipment; and, has plans for at least 40 acres of commercial development.

The public has been a big supporter of Valley Children’s Hospital ever since it was founded in 1952, as evidenced by the popularity of Kids Day newspaper sales and business campaigns to get customers to round up their tab and send the extra donation to the hospital.

That image, however, has now been tarnished by executive salaries that dwarf those of other area hospitals in a region where more than 70% of its children are covered by or eligible for Medi-Cal, the state insurance program for low-income residents.

It is time for Suntrapak and the hospital to fully explain — and justify — those high salaries.

Valley Children’s board used a national scale to pay its CEO. That’s extreme | Opinion