Niagara Falls Memorial to reduce management salaries

In an effort to offset revenue losses and skyrocketing expenses attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center is reducing the salaries of all its managers effective Monday.

The cuts will range from 20% for Memorial’s CEO to 7% for department directors and other members of the management team. Medical center administrators, including its vice presidents, will see a 10% reduction in pay.

The salary reductions were announced a day after the medical center furloughed 52 employees. None of those furloughs will impact patient care at the bedside. Memorial is continuing to recruit and hire physicians, nurses and other direct patient care personnel.

“The public health crisis we are enduring due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disastrous impact on the finances of hospitals across the country, including here at Niagara Falls Memorial,” President and CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo said in a staff memo announcing the pay cuts.

“I could not be prouder of the way the Memorial Medical Center team has responded to the challenges brought on by this pandemic and I will be the first to say it isn’t fair for team members to absorb furloughs or cuts in pay. But in times such as this we are sometimes called upon to lead by example in order to ensure our ability to continue serving those who depend on us so much,” he added.

Ruffolo said Memorial has worked unceasingly over the past month to bring additional funding to the medical center, making its case for disaster funding and in-kind contributions such as personal protective equipment to Western New York foundations, corporations, elected officials from Niagara County to Washington, D.C., and even the general public.

“The response has been supportive, encouraging and in some cases amazing but it hasn’t been enough to overcome our burdensome loss of operating revenue. The money simply isn’t there,” he said.

The salary reductions will remain effective until further notice.