Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Saturday

August 11, 2012

Munson CFO got $200K payout

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Former Munson Healthcare CEO Douglas Deck wasn't the only executive to garner a severance package from the hospital system in 2010.

Recently released tax returns from 2010 show Munson Healthcare paid Edward Carlson, its former chief finance officer, $209,123 in severance that year.

Combined with Deck's $362,560 payout, the hospital group spent $571,683 in severance payments that year, not including bonuses and supplemental pension payments to Carlson and Deck. Deck alone received payments that topped $1.6 million after he abruptly left in early 2010.

Carlson, 65, left Munson Healthcare in May 2009, a year before Deck left. Munson officials declined to discuss reasons for Carlson's departure or details of his severance agreement, other than limited information provided in the nonprofit agency's public tax returns, known as form 990.

"I can tell you what is in the 990, and anything other than that I am unable to share," said Sue Peters, Munson Medical Center's vice president of human resources.

Carlson did not return messages left at his home.

Munson has a severance benefit for all of its vice presidents that pays them up to one year's salary and 12 months of health care insurance if they separate from the organization under certain conditions. Peters declined to list the conditions contained in the contractual agreements.

"Munson's severance plan described here would be typical for any organization of this size," Peters said. "What you would see in our plan would be very consistent in other executive severance plans in general."

Those plans typically do not pay severance when an executive leaves to accept another position or retires, Peters said, but there can be unique circumstances.

They also don't typically pay severance if an executive is fired for committing a crime or taking other actions considered harmful to the corporation.

A layoff due to a change in ownership, downsizing, elimination of a department, or consolidation of positions are among items covered by the policy, Peters said. She did not indicate layoffs were behind Deck's or Carlson's departures.

Munson's non-executives also qualify for transitional pay in those types of layoffs, Peters said. Munson provides two weeks of pay for every year of service up to six months of salary.

Mark Hepler, vice president of Munson Medical Center, was appointed interim chief financial officer for Munson Healthcare when Carlson left. Munson later dropped the interim tag and eliminated the vice president of finance position.

Edward Ness replaced Deck on an interim basis in 2010 and later was named CEO.

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