Seattle

“Follow the money” helps us figure this out. Inpatient hospital beds generate two bills: facility fees and professional fees. In most public hospitals, both go to support the whole operation. But not at UW Medicine, which operates a separate company, UW Physicians (aka Association of University Physicians), that uses the professional fees to pay bonuses to physician leadership, doubling and tripling (the former dean) their State-paid compensation to over $1 million annually for several. So a Harborview neurosurgeon earning $657,000 in his State paycheck collected another $430,000 from the private company, as well as $127,000 in “other compensation.” Altogether, 831 UW Medicine leaders earn at least $100,000 each extra from this company that collects, then redistributes professional fees paid for subspecialty surgery and intensive care on mostly private insurance patients.