Executive Compensation at Mercy Health (Cincinnati, OH) 2019

Mercy Health is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) healthcare provider in eight (8) regions (Cincinnati, Toledo, Youngstown, Springfield, Lima, Lorain, Northern Kentucky, and Paducah) in Ohio and Kentucky through 23 hospitals and hundreds of clinics, urgent care, and medical center locations. Although Mercy Health consists of dozens of affiliated and related organizations, the purpose of this post is the executive compensation as reported on the Form 990 (2019) submitted by Mercy Health to the IRS.  However, it is important to note the following information about Mercy Health:

Mercy Health had total revenue of $7 billion (compared to $4.6 billion in 2018 and $4.5 billion in 2017, most of which ($4.4 billion) came from patient services and a $2 billion dollar gain on the sale of securities.

Expenses were $4.9 billion (including $279 million in depreciation) with the three largest expenses being compensation ($2.5 billion), medical supplies ($859 million) and fees for services ($776 million).

Excess revenue over expenses was $2.1 billion (of which $2 billion was the gain on the sale of securities). These funds, along with $168 million in unrealized gains on investments and $108 million in other changes to assets were allocated to the general fund, which had a balance of $1.7 billion at the beginning of the year.  After adding the unspent revenue ($100 million), gains ($2 billion) and unrealized gains on investments ($168 million), the total – $4 billion – was transferred out of the organization to Bon Secours Health System (which merged with Mercy Health in 2018).

33,125 employees received $2.5 billion, which equates to an average compensation of $75,000. 2,817 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 33 most highly compensated employees (including employees compensated from an affiliated organization marked in with a “*”) reported to be:

• $15,773,699:  John Starcher, Jr, President and CEO
• $ 3,318,912:  Brian Smith, EVP, COO
• $ 2,816,183:  Michael Bezney, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
• $ 2,698,484:  Deborah Bloomfield, Treasurer and CFO
• $ 2,461,501:  Anton Decker, Chief Clinical Officer
• $ 2,117,068:  Judson Ivy, President Ensemble RMC LLC (end 8/19)*
• $ 1,966,744:  Wael Haider, Chief Clinical Officer*
• $ 1,884,812:  Zoheir Abdelbaki, Physician
• $ 1,865,886:  Mark Nantz, CAO (end 8/19)*
• $ 1,795,045:  Sameh Arebi, Physician
• $ 1,693,973:  Joel David Talley, Physician
• $ 1,685,733:  William Woods, Physician
• $ 1,651,315:  David A Cannady, Chief Strategy Officer
• $ 1,649,435:  Joseph Gage, Jr, Chief HR Officer
• $ 1,628,702:  Donald Kline, President and CEO Youngstown Region, SVP Mercy Health
• $ 1,622,549:  Craig A Nicholson, Physician
• $ 1,384,200:  Robert Baxter, President/CEO Toledo and Lima Regions, SVP Mercy Health
• $ 1,322,564:  Andrea Mazzoccoli, SVP, Chief Nursing Officer*
• $ 1,262,418:  Jerome Judd, SVP, Treasury and Investments
• $ 1,161,966:  Alethea Williams-Carlson, Chief Information Officer*
• $ 1,160,079:  Sandra D Mackey, Chief Marketing Officer
• $ 1,119,659:  Edwin Oley, President/CEO Lorain Region, SVP Mercy Health
• $ 1,079,836:  Jeffrey Oak, Chief Enterprise Risk Officer*
• $ 1,042,780:  Samuel Ross, Chief Community Health Officer*
• $ 1,010,946:  Jeffrey Copeland, SVP, Business Development
• $   916,018:  Thomas Golias, Chief Managed Care
• $   899,769:  Michael Yungmann, President/CEO Kentucky Region, SVP Mercy Health
• $   777,540:  Michael W Garfield, President/CEO Cincinnati Region, SVP Mercy Health
• $   695,836:  Joseph Cardone, SVP Mission and Values Integration
• $   633,567:  Christine Lay, Secretary (end 4/19)
• $   525,793:  Rebecca Sykes, Former SVP, CIO
• $  299,946:  Paul Hiltz, Former President/CEO Toledo and Lima
• $   274,956:  Imran Andrabi, Former President/CEO Toledo Region, SVP Mercy Health

The 33 most highly compensated employees received $62 million in 2019. 10 of the most highly compensated employees received $71 million in compensation from 2017-2019:

John Starcher:  Total Compensation 2017-2019:  $23 million

• 2019: $15,773,699
• 2018:  $ 3,255,988
• 2017:  $ 5,580,929

Brian Smith:  Total Compensation 2017-2019:  $7.5 million

• 2019:  $3,318,912
• 2018:  $1,646,569
• 2017:  $2,444,359

Michael Bezney:  Total Compensation 2017-2019:  $6 million

• 2019:  $2,816,183
• 2018:  $1,230,387
• 2017:  $1,672,624:

Deborah Bloomfield:  Total Compensation 2017-2019:  $6 million

• 2019:  $2,698,484
• 2018:  $1,366,053
• 2017:  $1,964,692

Anton Decker:  Total Compensation 2017-2019:  $5.5 million

• 2019:  $2,461,501
• 2018:  $1,262,559
• 2017:  $1,757,479

Judson Ivy: Total Compensation 2017-2019:  $6 million

• 2019:  $2,117,068
• 2018:  $1,360,530
• 2017:  $2,200,308

Wael Haider: Total Compensation 2018-2019: $4 million

• 2019: $1,966,744
• 2018:  $1,935,719
• 2017:  None Listed

Zoheir Abdelbaki: Total Compensation 2017-2019:  $5 million

• 2019:  $1,884,812
• 2018:  $1,531,424
• 2017:  $1,815,374

Mark Nantz: Total Compensation 2018-2019:  $4.5 million

• 2019:  $1,865,886
• 2018:  $2,597,608
• 2017:  None Listed

Sameh Arebi: Total Compensation 2018-2019:  $3.5 million

• 2019:  $1,795,045:
• 2018:  $1,561,325
• 2017:  None Listed

27 of the 33 (82%) most highly compensated employees are male while 6 of the 33 (18%) are female. 9 of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male while 1 is a female.

Mercy Health paid for companion travel, health or social club dues or initiation fees, personal services, gross up payments and tax indemnifications.  For information on these expenses and the various deferred compensation pans, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2019), click here.