Executive Compensation at Vidant Health (2020)

University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina does business as Vidant Health, and is a tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) (3) based in Greenville, North Carolina.  To meet the health needs of the public, Vidant Health has 7 community hospitals and dozens of other patient care locations.

There are 11 voting members (board members) of the governing body (Board), 10 of whom are independent,  although 13 are listed on the Form 990, which appears to be due to timing differences.  11 of the 13 (85%) are male while 2 of the 13 (15%) are female.

Vidant Health has more than 12,000 employees spread among many related/affiliated organizations.  In 2020, Vidant Health reported total revenue of $265 million (compared to $251 million in 2019), all of which (and more:  $274 million which was reduced to a $10 million loss in investment income) came from related/affiliated organizations which appears to mean they all pay into for overall management of the system.

Expenses totaled $263 million (not including $15 million in depreciation) with the largest expenses reported to be compensation ($132 million) and office-related expenses ($48 million). The front page of the Form 990, Part I, Line 5 typically lists the total employees but “0” is listed although Part VII, Line 2 reports 249 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation.  The 19 most highly compensated employees were reported to be:

• $1,465,307:  Michael Waldrum, CEO
• $  754,441:  David Hughes, CFO
• $  712,583:  Brian Floyd, President, VMC*
• $  572,987:  Niti Armstead, Chief Medical Officer
• $  522,383:  Donnette Herring, CIO
• $  490,790: Jay Briley, President, Vidant Community Hospitals
• $  463,383:  John Marques, Chief HR Officer
• $  437,657:  Ryan Hickey, Chief Clin Network Dev Officer
• $  436,309:  Joan Wynn, Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer
• $  420,385:  Julie Oehlert, Chief Experience Officer
• $  394,639:  Jennifer Thomas, VP, Financial Services
• $  379,049:  William Case, President, Vidant Beaufort
• $  356,386:  Jerry Townsend, VP, Financial Services Operations
• $  354,573:  Timothy McDonnell, Chief Facilities Officer
• $  348,339:  David Michael, Chief Medical Information Officer
• $  327,415:  Robert Speakman, VP, Tech Infrastructure, CTO
• $  305,284:  Gail Brown, Chief Audit/Compliance Officer
• $  290,666:  Gregory Nelson, VP, Data Analytics and Strategy
• $  263,336:  Steven Huckabaa, VP, Financial Support Services – Support Chain Mgmnt

A “*” indicates compensation was from a related/affiliated organization.

13 of the 19 (68%) most highly compensated employees are male while 6 of the 19 (32%) are female.

Vidant Health paid for companion travel – a board member’s spouse accompanied the board member on a business trip that as taken on behalf of the organization, as such, the spousal travel was treated as a taxable benefit.

74 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation. The five highest were reported to be:

• $4,503,278:  Premier Healthcare Solutions, of Chicago, IL for consulting
• $1,680,722:  Medcost, of Winston Salem, NC for admin fees
• $1,306,213:  K and L Gates, of Boston, MA for legal support
• $  983,514:  ECU School of Med, of Charlotte, NC for contracted services
• $  764,098:  TEK Systems, of Atlanta, GA for contract labor

To read the IRS Form 990 (2019) for the year ending September 30, 2020, click here.