Over the last few weeks the University of California regents has been in the news for various budget issues. This trend continues this week as yesterday the UC regents announced that they approved a very controversial performance bonus of $3.1 million, which will go to 38 senior executives at five of the UC medical centers. Many people in California are not happy about this approval, including union activist who denounced the bonuses. The reason many are upset is that so many California colleges and universities are already dealing with budget troubles, pay cuts, and even layoffs. Despite the negative feedback, the UC regents said that these funds were to be used to improve patient health and retain talented employees. Ultimately the quality of these very popular and reputable UC hospitals is in question, and it might be hard for some to stomach at this time. It is hard to deal with for lower level employees who may have only received a bonus of $300 compared to the UC hospital senior executives who received bonuses ranging from $30,000 to over $200,000.
Despite rough economic times in California, hospitals cannot suffer as it is vital to have a healthy workforce if we want to recover from our current deficit. These bonuses were awarded because the UC medical center system met a variety of targets that helped improve performance and save money. The bottom line is that the university hospitals and California colleges and universities need to be saved so that students can continue to obtain higher education. Education is what most feel is the key to getting California and the U.S. out of this economic slump, and we need the California colleges and universities to accomplish this goal.
Tags: California Economy, california education, california news, California Universities, UC regents
