Union nurses at Mass General Brigham spoke out against news of the Mass General Brigham CEO’s 9% raise to nearly $9.2 million in compensation in fiscal 2025, as contentious contact negotiations continue for Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses and MGB Home Care clinicians.
“The fact that MGB’s CEO received an $800,000 pay hike to almost $9.2 million makes it impossible for MGB to credibly argue that it cannot settle a fair contract,” said Brigham MNA Bargaining Committee Chair Kelly Morgan. “This is about choices. MGB is choosing enormous executive compensation while refusing to negotiate with the nurses and clinicians who provide the very patient care that makes MGB successful.”
The hospital system CEO Anne Klibanski received $9,180,758 million compensation for October 2024 to September 2025, according to the most recent MGB’s IRS Form 990 filings, up from $8.4 million in fiscal year 2024.
The about 4,000 Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses and 465 MGB Home Care clinicians went on strike in July after months of stalled negotiation, making history as the largest Massachusetts nurse’s strike and marking an escalation in tensions with the hospital administration.
The MNA noted the increase is equivalent to $4,413 per hour for someone working 40 hours per week, and Klibanski is the highest paid hospital system CEO in Massachusetts.
According to pay reports shared by Brigham and Women’s Hospital executives, the hospital’s top 100 paid nurses earn between around $412,000 to $237,000 in the last year.
In a statement Wednesday, Mass General Brigham Board Chair Scott Sperling said leading the health system “requires exceptional leadership” and Klibanski’s total compensation ranks in the bottom third of the market when ” benchmarked against leaders of comparable nonprofit healthcare systems.”
“At an institution of Mass General Brigham’s size and complexity, attracting and retaining exceptional leaders is essential to fulfilling our mission and serving the patients and communities who depend on us,” Sperling said. … “The Board fully supports Dr. Klibanski’s total compensation package, which reflects Dr. Klibanski’s leadership of one of the nation’s leading healthcare organizations, her demonstrated performance, and the need to remain competitive in attracting and retaining executive talent in a highly competitive national market.”
Sperling noted the CEO’s tenure and record through “one of the most challenging periods in healthcare.”
The MNA said Tuesday that the hospital system has “repeatedly refused to meaningfully negotiate with either bargaining unit” since the strikes.
“On August 11, MGB informed the Brigham MNA bargaining committee that MGB believes negotiations have reached a ‘practical impasse’ and does not want to continue meeting under the current circumstances unless nurses make significant changes to their proposal,” the MNA said, noting the administration “similarly refused to move during negotiations with Home Care clinicians on August 13.”
The BWH nurses are seeking terms including a meaningful cost-of-living wage increase, limits on MGB’s reliance on temporary nurses to support continuity and quality of care, and affordable health insurance with meaningful plan choice, the union said.
The union noted the home care clinicians are similarly looking for competitive wages to help recruit and retain experienced clinicians, reasonable caseloads and clear and transparent productivity standards.
The MNA said the hospital’s offer to BWH nurses of “two potential paths: Accept no cost-of-living wage increase and potentially discuss other issues or drop other outstanding issues and potentially discuss wages” has led negotiations to a stall again.
“This is corporate greed in its clearest form,” said MGB Home Care MNA Bargaining Committee Chair Shannon Viera. “MGB found $9.2 million in a single year for its CEO, but when clinicians ask for competitive wages, safe patient caseloads and working conditions that allow us to safely provide complex care for patients in their homes, suddenly MGB claims it cannot meet our needs.”
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