Valley Children’s on CEO pay criticism: “There is no ‘there’ there”

Todd Suntrapak file photo

Valley Children’s Heathcare trustees are pushing back against what they call misinformation regarding the compensation of CEO Todd Suntrapak.

In a letter dated Wednesday addressed to the Fresno City Council, hospital officials said recent media coverage of Suntrapak’s $5.1 million compensation package in 2021 is based on an “ill-informed reading” of IRS forms.

For 2021, Suntrapak was paid two years’ worth of performance bonuses in a single year on advice from accountants and tax counsel, according to the letter.

“This is a one-time accounting adjustment. In fact, the CEO’s annual salary since July of 2020 is $1,711,341, which is in line with other health system CEOs with similar levels of responsibility; the remainder of his compensation largely consists of bonuses based on meeting significant performance goals – again, the norm for health system CEOs,” the letter says.

On reports of a forgivable $5 million loan that Suntrapak used to purchase a home in Carmel, the Trustees said that sort of loan is not an unusual retention tool.

“Should the CEO voluntarily leave the organization within the 10-year period after the loan was advanced, the unamortized balance of the loan is required to be repaid,” according to the letter. “And we are able to provide an appropriate level of compensation for our leaders because of the superb performance of our investment portfolio and our financial stewardship – not from the payments we receive from the Medi-Cal program, which, generally speaking, do not even cover the cost of the care we render to Medi-Cal beneficiaries.”

Trustees insist Suntrapak’s compensation is determined through widely recognized best practices. “With regard to the criticism leveled against the Board of Valley Children’s Healthcare, there is no ‘there’ there.”

Valley Children’s Healthcare Board of Trustees Chair Michael Hanson stated, “Valley Children’s has always been dedicated to transparency and accountability. We want to make sure that our community understands the truth and recognizes our unwavering commitment to exceptional patient care and financial stability to ensure Valley Children’s is here for the next 70 years.”

The trustees added that while other California hospitals are teetering on financial ruin, Valley Children’s “has done everything we can to operate efficiently, invest wisely and work effectively so that we can support the children in our community that depend on us.”

A Valley Children’s spokesperson previously said a key part of Suntrapak’s value is in recruiting personnel.

“Our highest priority as part of our collaboration with Fresno State is to expand the opportunities for nursing education in the Central Valley, which is critical to help address the growing nursing shortage,” said the letter. “In addition to providing many of our nurses with the opportunity to obtain four-year degrees, we are collaborating with the university to increase the number of nursing graduates by 50% over the next five years.”