MNA: $9.2 Million Mass General Brigham CEO Pay Sparks Outrage Among Nurses & Clinicians Seeking Fair Contracts to Protect Patient Care

CEO Anne Klibanski's compensation jumped by 9% or ~$800,000 while MGB refuses to negotiate patient care priorities

SOMERVILLE, Mass., Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mass General Brigham (MGB) CEO Dr. Anne Klibanski received a 9% or approximately $800,000 increase in annual compensation in the latest fiscal year available through MGB's IRS Form 990 filings, putting her fiscal year 2025 pay at nearly $9.2 million even as the healthcare giant refuses to meaningfully negotiate with 4,000 Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses and 465 MGB Home Care clinicians.

• Dr. Klibanski's $9,180,758 million compensation for October 2024 to September 2025 is up from $8.4 million in fiscal year 2024, an increase of $800,000 in a single year. The increase alone is equivalent to more than $66,000 per month.
• Dr. Klibanski's nearly $9.18 million compensation is equal to:
  • $176,538 per week
  • $25,150 per day
  • $4,413 per hour for someone working 40 hours per week
• Dr. Klibanski is the highest paid hospital system CEO in Massachusetts.

The revelation that Dr. Klibanski makes more per week than the median Massachusetts worker makes in two years has outraged Brigham nurses and MGB Home Care clinicians, who participated in the largest coordinated strike of nurses and healthcare professionals in Massachusetts history beginning July 8 and have since faced repeated refusals by MGB to meaningfully negotiate.

"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 Kelly Morgan, RN, Chair of the Brigham MNA Bargaining Committee. "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."

"This is corporate greed in its clearest form," said Shannon Viera, RN, Chair of the MGB Home Care MNA Bargaining Committee. "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. The muti-millionaire executives and billionaire board members who run MGB must make clinicians and our patients their top priority."

MGB Refuses to Negotiate Following Historic Strikes

Brigham nurses held a one-day strike beginning July 8, followed by a four-day lockout imposed by MGB. MGB Home Care clinicians began a seven-day strike the same day. Approximately 4,500 nurses and healthcare professionals participated in the coordinated actions, making them the largest strikes of nurses and healthcare professionals in Massachusetts history.

Since then, MGB has repeatedly refused to meaningfully negotiate with either bargaining unit.

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.

MGB presented Brigham nurses with two potential paths: Accept no cost-of-living wage increase and potentially discuss other issues or drop other outstanding issues and potentially discuss wages. Nurses rejected that false choice and offered to participate in an informal, off-the-record discussion about potential compromises. MGB refused.

MGB similarly refused to move during negotiations with Home Care clinicians on August 13, despite clinicians having made the most recent proposal and compromising on several issues in an effort to move bargaining forward.

Brigham nurses continue seeking improvements including limits on MGB's reliance on temporary nurses to support continuity and quality of care; affordable health insurance with meaningful plan choice; a differential for nurses required to float among units; and a meaningful cost-of-living wage increase.

MGB Home Care clinicians are seeking reasonable caseload limits that support safe patient care; clear and transparent productivity standards; and competitive wages that recognize the complexity of home care and help recruit and retain experienced clinicians.

Learn more at www.massnurses.org/MGB. 

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 26,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association