With overtime, 4 S.F. nurses made $300,000 in a year

San Francisco Gate

Police officers and firefighters have been San Francisco's highest-paid city workers for years, thanks to overtime, premium pay and hefty vacation buyouts, but now they've been overtaken by another group - nurses.

According to the year-end tally of city labor costs, 10 nurses earned more than $250,000 in fiscal 2010-11. That's roughly what Mayor Ed Lee makes.

Four of the nurses made more than $300,000. All worked in the San Francisco General Hospital surgery unit, then doubled up as "special nurses" when needed.

According to the Health Department, they worked an average of 67 1/2 hours a week.

The Public Health Department also had the highest-paid city worker. Dr. Denis Bouvier, at Laguna Honda Hospital, earned $332,331 by working an extra two or more 15-hour overnight shifts a week after his usual day shift. He was one of two doctors on the highest-paid list.

"I usually do it on Mondays and Fridays," Bouvier said. "There is no law against working hard."

As far as we can tell, there are no restrictions on how many hours a surgical nurse or doctor can work in a week, either.

Nonetheless, new Health Director Barbara Garcia said she is "very concerned" about the safety issues that might result from so many hours on such a high-stress job.

"It's clearly something we need to look into," Garcia said after viewing the numbers. "It may mean we need to hire more nurses."

Ya think?

Although the Public Health Department scored the most workers making more than $250,000, the Fire Department - which has long promised reviews of its overtime and premium pay policies - still managed an impressive showing.

Eleven firefighters made the list, led by Assistant Chief Arthur Kenney at $301,811. Chief Joanne Hayes-White checked in at $298,627, including $16,903 in premium and incentive pay.

Overall, 259 city execs and workers made more than $200,000 last year, and 2,325 city workers made more than $150,000 - plus benefits.

By the way, despite a reduced workforce, employee pay concessions and unpaid furlough days, the city's labor costs still went up $25 million last year - largely because of rising pension and health care costs.