SO FAR — and it’s fair to wonder what other squalid revelations may be forthcoming — the accounting of Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh’s take from the pay-to-play scam she ran under the guise of her self-published “Healthy Holly” children’s books amounts to roughly $800,000 since 2011. As allegations of corruption go, that puts her in the heavyweight class.

Ms. Pugh, now on a leave of absence owing to what she says are health concerns, has been the subject of investigative stories in the Baltimore Sun, whose enterprising reporters have uncovered one sleazy deal after another. The common denominator is that Ms. Pugh, a prominent Democratic state lawmaker before becoming Baltimore’s mayor, in 2016, managed to extract payments from institutions, businesses and, in one case, an individual businessman, most of whom depended on her position, power and influence to one degree or another.

The biggest chunk of the proceeds, $500,000, came from the University of Maryland Medical System, a sprawling health-care network whose 13 hospitals and 25,000 employees make it one of the largest private employers in the state.