Pam Stephenson's six-month tenure as chief executive of Grady Memorial Hospital has been plagued with controversy, including her $600,000 a year, two-year contract and its potential $750,000 severance package.

That part was settled Monday with announcement of a $325,000 final payment package for Stephenson in exchange for her departure as CEO.

As part of the plan to hire a new CEO, Stephenson and hospital officials announced a separation agreement that continues to pay her $50,000 a month until she leaves Sept. 1, plus three months severance pay, or $150,000, and a bonus of $175,000.

Grady nonprofit board chairman Pete Correll defended her bonus, which still requires board approval.

"She had led the hospital through the transition" from the old Grady authority to the new nonprofit hospital board, Correll said. "She has not lost a single key employee. Morale is much better, and she's made progress in operations."

Stephenson, a state legislator, will remain chairwoman of the Grady authority, which continues to have general oversight of the hospital, and vice chairwoman of the board of the new nonprofit Grady Memorial Hospital Corp., which has assumed management control.

On Monday, she issued a statement saying, "When I was asked to step in and help stabilize the hospital, I did it for the love of Grady and the community that Grady serves."

She added, "Where I saw a need, I personally tried to fill it. I am proud that by working together with the members of the business community, we have successfully accomplished a true public-private partnership to help save Grady."

Stephenson has created headlines repeatedly since taking the helm.

She drew criticism when the authority she chaired named her CEO in January and then signed a two-year contract, even as the new board was taking over with announced intentions to hire a new chief.

Some lawmakers said her multiple roles in Grady management created conflicts of interest.

Her extended separation negotiations with the new board were tense.

Even with her departure, controversies continue. Last week, questions arose about whether Stephenson, an attorney, has a law degree. She has said she received a law degree from the now-defunct Woodrow Wilson College of Law in Atlanta. Woodrow Wilson student records — now in the custody of Oglethorpe University — show that Stephenson attended the school from 1976 to 1979, but don't reflect that she graduated, according to the registrar's office.

Stephenson said Thursday she would provide verification of the Wilson law degree.

On Monday, she declined to comment on the issue.