Sen. Lesser Responds to Hospital CEOs Raises

Today, State Senator Matt Lesser, Senate Chair of the Human Services Committee, responded to reports that several Connecticut healthcare CEO’s saw million dollar raises, despite reporting significant financial pressures.
 
Yale New Haven Health CEO Christopher O’Connor will take home $6.2 million this year, a 22.1% increase compared to last year. The top 10 highest-paid executives at Yale received a 7.3% increase from last year.
 
Hartford HealthCare CEO Jeffrey Flaks received over $1 million raise, jumping from $5,064,491 in FY 2025 from $4,145,834 in FY 2024. 
 
“In the last year there have been massive federal cuts to health insurance and Medicaid that my colleagues and I in the state legislature have been working to fix. Simultaneously there are structural issues in the healthcare field that are leaving many hospitals in financially precarious situations. As we work to ensure affordable, quality healthcare for our residents without overburdening our healthcare partners, these salary hikes are raising eyebrows and seem bizarrely tone deaf.”