ORANGEBURG -Roger Etienne, a registered nurse with more than 25 years of experience, earns a modest salary of $51,453 working at Rockland Psychiatric Center.

But last year, Etienne was paid $161,605 – more than triple his base salary and more extra pay than any other state employee in Westchester, Rockland or Putnam, according to a database analysis of state employee salaries done by The Journal News.

Eleven of the top 20 state employees in the Lower Hudson Valley earning the highest percentage of pay over their base salaries work at Rockland Psychiatric Center, a 500-bed state hospital serving severely mentally ill people from throughout the region. Eight of the top 20 earners work at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility and one is at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

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