Executive Compensation at CommonSpirit Health (2021)

Commonspirit Health was created in 2019 when Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health merged to become the largest tax-exempt, non-profit healthcare system in the United States. With more than 150,000 employees staffing 1,000 care centers and 140 hospitals in 21 states, Commonspirit Health, the healthcare system, is comprised of hundreds of non-profits. This post only addresses the executive compensation at Commonspirit Health (CH), the non-profit, 501 (c) (3) that oversees the entire CH healthcare system.

Based in Chicago, CH has 15 members (trustees) in its governing body, 14 of whom are independent; 8 (53%) of whom are male while 7 (47%) are female.

CH reported total revenue of $3.3 billion (compared to $2.4 billion in 2020 and $2.5 billion in 2019), most of which came from “assessments” from related/affiliated organizations that all contributed to the parent organization for overall management.

Expenses totaled $3.2 billion (including $141 million in depreciation) which indicates the organization allocated unspent revenue ($128 million) along with unrealized gains on investments ($288 million) and changes in assets – primairily pension adjustments (a positive $822 million reduced net assets from a -$8.2 billion at the beginning of the year to a -$7 billion at year-end.   

The $3.2 billion in expenses consisted primarily of 5 major category expenses:

• $766 million: Group Benefits
• $724 million: Office, Insurance, Repairs
• $644 million: Fees for Outside Services (primarily “program services” with no detail provided)
• $480 million: Compensation
• $324 million: Interest

3,042 employees received $480 million in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of $158,000. The two most highly compensated employee were Kevin Lofton, the former CEO who received more than $17 million and Lloyd Dean,, the current CEO who received nearly $15 million in compensation. 1,090 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 38 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $17,365,246: Kevin Lofton, Former CEO
• $14,647,375:  Lloyd Dean, CEO*
• $ 5,416,775:  Marvin O’Quinn, President and COO*
• $ 4,472,261: Paul Edgett III, Chief Business Lines Officer
• $ 4,266,306 : Patricia Webb, Chief Administrative Officer
• $ 4,194,176:  Darryl Robinson, SEVP, Chief HR Officer*
• $ 4,168,547:  Charles P Francis, SEVP, Chief Strategy Officer*
• $ 3,740,238: Dean Swindle, Former Pres, Enter Bus Lines and CFO/Treas (through 2/7/19)
• $ 3,734,852:  Daniel J Morissette, SEVP, CFO, Treasurer*
• $ 3,643,868:  Elizabeth Shih, SEVP, CAO*
• $ 3,538,402:  Elizabeth I Keith, EVP, Sponsorship/Mission Integration*
• $ 3,163,843:  Robert Wiebe, EVP, Chief Medical Officer*
• $ 2,975,725:  Anthony Jones, System SEVP, Operations
• $ 2,803,782:  Bruce Swartz, SVP, Physician Enterprise*
• $ 2,536,258: Ketul Patel, SVP, Divisional Ops, CEO, CHI Franciscan Health
• $ 2,377,404: Cliff Robertson, SVP, Divisional Ops, CEO, CHI Health
• $ 2,320,133: Douglas Lawson, SVP, Divisional Ops, CEO, CHI St Luke’s Health
• $ 2,183,071: Larry Schumacher, SVP of Operations
• $ 2,153,525: Mitch Melfi, Chief Legal Officer, Secretary
• $ 2,055,640:  Suja Chandrasekaran, SEVP, Chief Information and Digital
• $ 2,018,764:  Colleen Scanlon, EVP, Chief Advocacy Officer
• $ 1,949,450: Kathleen Sanford, Chief Nursing Officer
• $ 1,947,571: Thomas Kopfensteiner, Chief Mission Officer
• $ 1,796,503:  Tammara Wilcox, System SVP Payer Strategy and Relation*
• $ 1,745,611:  Frederick Meadors, Cardiovascular Surgeon, SE Division*
• $ 1,717,258:  Robert Ritz, CEO, MercyOne
• $ 1,604,107:  Frank Bauer, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, SE Division*
• $ 1,591,360:  Lisa Gamshad Zuckerman, System SVP Treasury and Strategic Integration*
• $ 1,434,224:  Fred Najjar, EVP, Chief Philanthropy Officer
• $ 1,298,590: Jeffrey Drop, SVP and Division Executive Officer
• $ 1,298,246:  Benjie W Loanzon, System SVP, Finance and Corporate*
• $ 1,254,514:  Wendy Dolyk, VP, CHI Senior Living (through 11/22/20)
• $ 1,220,039 :  Elaine Lisko, SVP and General Counsel
• $ 1,136,438:  Philip Foster, Chief Risk Officer
• $ 1,129,549:  Tanja Oquendo, System SVP, Transform – Integration*
• $ 1,084,512:  Matthew Brown, System SVP, Operations – Ancillary Services
• $  732,866: Robert Weil, SVP and Chief Medical Officer (through 6/30/19)
• $  420,134: Joyce Ross, SVP, Communications, Asst Secretary (through 3/31/19)

“*” indicates all or a portion of compensation paid by Dignity Health, a related organization

The 38 most highly compensated employees received $134 million in compensation in 2021. 26 of the 38 (68%) most highly compensated employees are male while 12 (32%) are female. 8 of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male.

CH paid for first class or charter travel and made gross up payments or provided tax indemnifications. IFor specific information on these perks and the deferred compensation plan along with post-termination payments, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

279 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation in 2020. The 5 most highly compensated were reported to be:

• $579 million: Conifer Health Solutions, of Frisco, TX for revenue cycle services
• $ 65 million:  Sodexo Inc and Affiliates, of Pittsburgh, PA for food services
• $ 49 million: Deloitte Consulting, of New York, NY for consulting services
• $ 30 million:  Unisys Corp, of Santa Clara, CA for IT support Services
• $ 30 million: Cerner Corp, of Kansas City, MO for technology services

To read the IRS Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2021), click here.