For Ron Shinkman, reporter at “Payers and Providers” in Los Angeles, the most rewarding session was “Rich Hospital Poor Hospital, Stories of Business Survival.” He was struck by the impact of big-city hospital closures laid out by Alan Sager, Ph.D., from the Boston University School of Public Health.
“Dr. Sager’s discussion of medical wastelands in cities like Detroit and St. Louis – I wasn’t aware of that. That was an amazing bit of information that I’ll be able to work on.”
But what was even more extraordinary for Shinkman was the chance to ask Boston Medical Center CEO Kate Walsh about her compensation package.
“This gave me the first opportunity ever to ask the CEO of a hospital that question directly. I write about hospital CEO compensation issues. When I ask that question I usually have to go through the PR person. CEOs never grant an interview, and I found her reaction quite telling.” He added, “This has been by far the best session that I’ve been to.”
