CEO evaluation committee recommends 4% discretionary bonus for Dr. Webb, outlines timeline for contract decision

The Hospital Authority CEO performance evaluation committee voted to recommend a 4% discretionary bonus for Chief Executive Officer Dr. Webb for the evaluation period ending June 2024 and said it will present the recommendation to the full board at an upcoming meeting.

Committee chair Christy (committee chair) told members the review covered a delayed evaluation period and that the group had compiled scoring across five categories to reach the recommendation. "That puts him, in the category, of a b out of an a b c category, as defined by our last meeting," the chair said as the committee reviewed totals and the bonus band tied to the score.

The committee said the decision follows an averaging of scores from the three participating committee members across five categories — growth, financial, quality, customer service and board relations and communication — that produced a total of 17 out of 25 points and placed the CEO in the "B" band, which corresponds to a 3–4% bonus range under the board's scoring matrix. The committee recommended the higher end of that band, a 4% discretionary bonus, "given the tardiness of doing this evaluation and my overall sense that in fairness to Dr. Webb, any kind of marginal call ought to be decided in his favor," committee member David (board member) said before the motion.

Mr. Lesser (committee member) moved the bonus recommendation and Derek (Metro legal counsel) seconded. The committee recorded the motion as approved; members present voted in favor. The chair said the committee will forward the recommendation and explanatory comments to the full board at its next meeting.

In addition to the bonus decision, the committee reviewed and revised the CEO evaluation criteria for fiscal 2025. Members discussed replacing vague measurement language (for example, "review social media engagement") with specific, outcome-oriented targets such as an increase in community penetration and defined patient-volume targets across all facilities. Diana (chief of HR) explained that penetration metrics should translate into measurable outcomes: "if we are penetrating to those communities, we should see an enlargement of our numbers of folks accessing our facility. So it's about access," she said.

On quality metrics, the committee agreed to use the hospital's quality dashboard and to change the evaluation language from "review" to explicit targets tied to Leapfrog scores, with some members urging an aspirational goal of achieving or maintaining top ratings. For customer-service metrics the committee discussed a stretch target of 4.11 on the employee engagement scale used by Press Ganey, and agreed the stretch target would determine a higher bonus tier if achieved.

The committee also discussed the CEO's employment agreement, which the committee noted expires on June 30, 2025. Legal counsel Derek cautioned the group about statutory notice and meeting-timing constraints associated with the contract's 90-day timeline: "based on this 90 day timeline you alluded to, if you wait whatever body may be appointed to review the CEO's contract, if that committee waits till your March meeting to bring that recommendation to the board, and if you didn't have a quorum at that board meeting, you will not be able to then have a special called meeting before the expiration of the 90 day period." The committee acknowledged that decision-making timing will likely require action or a recommendation to the full board before the end of March, and discussed scheduling an extra committee meeting in early March if needed.

Committee members also discussed the limits of what the committee could formally decide under the board's bylaws and the Open Meetings Act. Several members said the committee is the natural forum for the detailed review and recommended that the committee, if so tasked by the board chair, include a formal dialogue with Dr. Webb as part of the contract discussion. "The contract says that the parties are going to decide whether to continue the employment agreement," David said. "...my suggestion ... is that this process include dialogue with Dr. Webb so that the parties have a discussion as the contract contemplates about the employment agreement going forward." The committee agreed to request clarification of the committee's formal charge at the next full-board meeting.

The meeting closed with administrative items: the committee set a follow-up meeting on Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. to finalize the 2025 evaluation form and prepare any recommendation for the February/March board schedule, and staff agreed to circulate requested materials, including the CEO compensation history and the prior search-firm contract information (AMN Leadership Solutions/BE Smith).