Santa Clara Physicians Earn Highest County Salaries
A week after the California Supreme Court ruled that local governments must disclose what they pay their employees, Santa Clara County revealed that most of the county's 200 highest-paid employees are physicians at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Kyung Won Park, head of the anesthesiology department at Valley Medical Center, is the county's highest-paid employee and made $493,291 from June 2006 to June 2007. Three other physicians at the center make more than $400,000 annually, and about 36 other physicians make between $300,000 and $400,000. Nearly all of the county's 100 highest-earning employees work at either Valley Medical Center or another part of the public health system.
County Executive Pete Kutras said the county on average pays its physicians and nurses as much or slightly less than some private-sector hospitals, and the county's pension benefits make it more competitive with locations such as Stanford.
Todd Charski, a physician recruiter in Colorado, said Northern California anesthesiologists command upward of $400,000, while internists and pediatricians usually make about $215,000.
Kim Roberts, head of HHS for Santa Clara, makes $264,781.45 annually (Lohse/Patel, San Jose Mercury News, 9/5).