Quinte area hospital workers rallied in Belleville yesterday…objecting to what they called “executive runaway salaries” in tight budget times. Members of the Service Employees Union demanded a cap on the pay of the new Quinte Health Care CEO. Spokesperson Sharleen Stewart, says it’s in the Toronto hospital salary range, too high for rural hospitals. But QHC board spokesman, John Embregts, says it’s not Toronto-based, but won’t reveal the salary. He says the board looked at the local market place for the salary range. Meanwhile the province has put a two-year freeze on hospital executive salaries. The protesters also called on the Ontario Hosptial Association to reach an agreement with frontline hospital workers in Quinte whose contract expired last year.
