Executive Compensation at CommonSpirit Health (2022)

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 and for-profit corporations, partnerships, and trusts. 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 Englewood, Colorado, 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 $3.4 billion (compared to $3.3 billion in 2021, $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 $3.3 billion (including $127 million in depreciation) which indicates the organization allocated unspent revenue ($115 million) to the general fund.  

The $3.3 billion in expenses consisted primarily of 5 major category expenses:

• $768 million: Group Benefits
• $709 million: Office, Insurance, Repairs
• $679 million: Fees for Outside Services (primarily “program services” with no detail provided)
• $535 million: Compensation
• $313 million: Interest

3,426 employees received $535 million in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of $156,000. The two most highly compensated employees were Lloyd Dean, the CEO who received more than $35 million and Marvin O’Quinn the President and COO, who received $7 million in compensation.

1,260 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 35 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $35,462,873:  Lloyd Dean, CEO*
• $ 7,069,638:  Marvin O’Quinn, President and COO*
• $ 5,694,337:  Charles P Francis, SEVP, Chief Strategy Officer*
• $ 4,958,895:  Daniel J Morissette, SEVP, CFO, Treasurer*
• $ 4,489,579:  Elizabeth I Keith, Former EVP, Sponsorship/Mission Integration*
• $ 4,108,512:  Robert Wiebe, EVP, Chief Medical Officer*
• $ 3,810,469:  Anthony Jones, System SEVP, Operations
• $ 3,596,145:   Ketul Patel, SVP, Divisional Ops, CEO, CHI Franciscan Health
• $ 3,575,043:  Darryl Robinson, SEVP, Chief HR Officer*
• $ 3,535,645:  Jeffrey Drop, SVP and Division Executive Officer
• $ 3,281,205:  Larry Schumacher, SVP of Operations
• $ 3,120,528:  Mitch Melfi, Chief Legal Officer, Secretary
• $ 3,069,170:  Suja Chandrasekaran, SEVP, Chief Information and Digital
• $ 3,040,585:  T Douglas Lawson, SVP, Divisional Ops, CEO, CHI St Luke’s Health
• $ 2,669,226:  Kathleen Sanford, Chief Nursing Officer
• $ 2,650,839: Thomas Kopfensteiner, Chief Mission Officer
• $ 2,417,999:  Thomas McGinn, EVP, Physician Enterprise
• $ 2,402,489:  Gary Kaplan, SVP and Co-Chief Executive Officer
• $ 2,383,030:  Fred Najjar, EVP, Chief Philanthropy Officer*
• $ 2,360,823:  Shelly Schenkler, EVP, Chief Advocacy Officer*
• $ 2,159,457:  Tammara Wilcox, System SVP Payer Strategy and Relation*
• $ 2,042,754:  Robert Ritz, CEO, MercyOne
• $ 1,843,201:  Frederick Meadors, Cardiovascular Surgeon, SE Division*
• $ 1,833,384:  Tanja Oquendo, System SVP, Transform – Integration*
• $ 1,833,052:  Michelle Cooper, EVP, Chief Compliance Officer
• $ 1,819,361:  Lisa Gamshad Zuckerman, System SVP Treasury and Strategic Integration*
• $ 1,731,335:  Frank Bauer, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, SE Division*
• $ 1,609,739:  Benjie W Loanzon, System SVP, Finance and Corporate*
• $ 1,601,499:  Matthew Brown, System SVP, Operations – Ancillary Services
• $ 1,543,074:  Elaine Lisko, SVP and General Counsel
• $ 1,511,997:  Rosalyn Carpenter, System SVP, Diversity and Inclusion
• $ 1,435,644:  Philip Foster, Chief Risk Officer
• $ 1,207,247:  Paul Edgett III, Former Chief Business Lines Officer
• $   985,086:  Patricia Webb, Former Chief Administrative Officer
• $   358,290:  Robert Weil, SVP and Chief Medical Officer (through 6/30/19)

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

The 35 most highly compensated employees received $126 million in compensation in 2022. 24 of the 35 (69%) most highly compensated employees are male while 11 (31%) are female. 9 of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male.

The 15 most highly compensated employees and 5 recently departed highly compensated employees received $272 million from 2019-2022:

Lloyd Dean:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $67 million

• 2022: $35,462,873
• 2021:  $14,647,375
• 2020:  $16,745,227

Marvin O’Quinn:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $18 million

• 2022: $7,069,638 
• 2021:  $5,416,775
• 2020:  $5,599,854

Charles P Francis:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $13 million

• 2022: $5,694,337
• 2021:  $4,168,547
• 2020:  $3,099,301

Daniel J Morissette:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $12 million

• 2022: $4,958,895
• 2021:  $3,744,852
• 2020:  $3,711,706

Elizabeth I Keith:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $10 million

• 2022: $4,489,579 
• 2021:  $3,538,402
• 2020:  $2,363,966

Elizabeth Shih:  Total Compensation 2020-2021:  $8 million

• 2021:  $3,643,868
• 2020:  $4,226,484

Robert Wiebe:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $11 million

• 2022: $4,108,512
• 2021:  $3,163,843
• 2020:  $3,246,468

Anthony Jones:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $9 million

• 2022: $ 3,810,469
• 2021:  $2,975,725
• 2020:  $2,474,001

Ketul Patel:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $11 million

• 2022: $ 3,596,145
• 2021:  $2,536,258
• 2020:  $2,666,863
• 2019:  $2,444,927

Darryl Robinson:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $11 million

• 2022: $3,575,043
• 2021:  $4,194,176
• 2020:  $3,343,413

Jeffrey Drop:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $8 million

• 2022: $ 3,535,645 
• 2021:  $1,298,590
• 2020:  $1,660,666
• 2019:  $1,429,287

Lawrence Schumacher:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $10 million

• 2022: $3,281,205
• 2021:  $2,183,071
• 2020:  $2,375,403
• 2019:  $2,310,197

Mitch Melfi:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $8 million

• 2022: $3,120,528
• 2021:  $2,153,525
• 2020:  $1,678,524
• 2019:  $1,409,859

Suja Chandrasekaran:  Total Compensation 2021-2022:  $5 million

• 2022: $3,069,170
• 2021:  $2,055,640

T Douglas Lawson:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $9 million

• 2022: $3,040,585
• 2021:  $2,320,133
• 2020:  $1,749,573
• 2019:  $1,501,979

Kathleen Sanford:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $8 million

• 2022: $ 2,669,226 
• 2021:  $1,949,450
• 2020:  $1,493,219
• 2019:  $1,264,906

Kevin Lofton:  Total Compensation 2019-2021:  $27 million

• 2021:  $17,365,246
• 2020:  $ 5,606,564
• 2019:  $ 4,005,092

Paul Edgett, III:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $9 million

• 2022: $1,207,247 
• 2021:  $4,472,261
• 2020:  $1,678,725
• 2019:  $1,365,398

Patricia Webb:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $8 million

• 2022:  $  985,086
• 2021:  $4,266,306
• 2020:  $1,735,177
• 2019:  $1,406,494

Dean Swindle:  Total Compensation 2019-2021:  $10 million

• 2021:  $3,740,278
• 2020:  $3,276,342
• 2019:  $2,598,438

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.

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

• $574 million: Conifer Health Solutions, of Frisco, TX for revenue cycle services
• $ 68  million:  Sodexo Inc and Affiliates, of Pittsburgh, PA for food services
• $ 27 million:  Polsinelli, of Kansas City, MO for legal services
• $ 26 million:  Siemens Medical Systems, of Malvern, PA for clinical engineering services
• $ 26 million:  HCL Technologies, of Uttar Padish (near Nepal)

To read the IRS Form 990 (2021 for the year ending June 30, 2022), click here.