Executive Compensation at CommonSpirit Health (2023)

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 175,000 employees staffing 2,200 care centers and 140 hospitals in 24 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 13 members (trustees) in its governing body, 11 of whom are independent although 15 are listed on the Form 990 (due to timing differences):   8 (53%) of whom are male while 7 (47%) are female.

CH reported total revenue of $3.9 billion in 2023 (compared to $3.4 billion in 2022, $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 who all contributed to the parent organization for overall management.

Expenses totaled $3.9 billion (including $113 million in depreciation) and consisted primarily of 5 major category expenses:

• $1,086 million or $1.1 billion: Compensation
• $806 million: Group Benefits
• $706 million: Office, Insurance, Repairs
• $651 million: Fees for Outside Services (primarily “program services” with no detail provided)
• $374 million: Interest

10,756 employees received $1.1 billion in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of $101,000. The two most highly compensated employee were Lloyd Dean, the CEO who received $28 million and Marvin O’Quinn the President and COO, who received $6 million in compensation.

1,719 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 33 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $27,954,468:  Lloyd Dean, CEO* thru 7/3 (3 days in this fiscal year)
• $ 6,407,226:  Marvin O’Quinn, President and COO*
• $ 4,187,662:  Daniel J Morissette, SEVP, CFO, Treasurer*
• $ 4,186,979:  Elizabeth Shih, SEVP, Chief Administrative Officer*
• $ 4,145,186:  Charles P Francis, SEVP, Chief Strategy Officer*
• $ 3,606,621:  Robert Wiebe, EVP, Chief Medical Officer*
• $ 3,511,054:  Suja Chandrasekaran, SEVP, Chief Information and Digital
• $ 3,122,766:  Darryl Robinson, SEVP, Chief HR Officer*
• $ 3,097,504:   Ketul Patel, SVP, Divisional Ops, CEO, CHI Franciscan Health
• $ 3,026,445:  John Petersdorf, Systems SVP, Operational Finance
• $ 2,782,336:  Larry Schumacher, SVP of Operations
• $ 2,770,811:  Gary Kaplan, Trustee, SVP Operations
• $ 2,707,134:  Mitch Melfi, Chief Legal Officer, Secretary
• $ 2,598,509:  Thomas McGinn, EVP, Physician Enterprise
• $ 2,462,273:  T Douglas Lawson, SVP, Divisional Ops, CEO, CHI St Luke’s Health
• $ 2,407,068: Thomas Kopfensteiner, Chief Mission Officer
• $ 2,267,846:  Kathleen Sanford, EVP, Chief Nursing Officer
• $ 2,085,359:  Fred Najjar, EVP, Chief Philanthropy Officer*
• $ 2,065,478:  Shelly Schenkler, EVP, Chief Advocacy Officer*
• $ 1,824,192:  Tammara Wilcox, System SVP Payer Strategy and Relation*
• $ 1,788,039:  Jessica Lombardi, System SVP, Strategy Budgets Planning
• $ 1,778,064:  Daniel Delay, System, SVP, Support Services Resources
• $ 1,774,865:  Frederick Meadors, Cardiovascular Surgeon, SE Division*
• $ 1,728,687:  Lisa Gamshad Zuckerman, System SVP Treasury and Strategic Integration*
• $ 1,671,578:  Neil Gomes, System SVP, Digital Human Experience
• $ 1,544,952:  Tanja Oquendo, System SVP, Transform – Integration*
• $ 1,514,177:  Rosalyn Carpenter, System SVP, Diversity and Inclusion
• $ 1,502,270:  Ann Shepard, System SVP, Nursing Informatics
• $ 1,454,414:  Wright Lassiter, CEO*
• $ 1,429,798:  Michelle Cooper, EVP, Chief Compliance Officer
• $ 1,388,202:  Benjie W Loanzon, System SVP, Finance and Corporate*
• $ 1,360,745 :  Matthew Brown, System SVP, Operations – Ancillary Services
• $ 1,303,984:  EJ Kuiper, SVP, Operations and CEO

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

The 33 most highly compensated employees received $108 million in compensation in 2023. 23 of the 33 (70%) most highly compensated employees are male while 10 (30%) are female. 9 of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male.

The 10 most highly compensated employees received $223 million from 2020-2023:

Lloyd Dean:  Total Compensation 2020-2023:  $95 million

• 2023:  $27,954,468
• 2022: $35,462,873
• 2021:  $14,647,375
• 2020:  $16,745,227

Marvin O’Quinn:  Total Compensation 2020-2023:  $25 million

• 2023:  $6,407,226
• 2022: $7,069,638
• 2021:  $5,416,775
• 2020:  $5,599,854

Charles P Francis:  Total Compensation 2020-2023:  $17 million

• 2023:  $4,145,186
• 2022: $5,694,337
• 2021:  $4,168,547
• 2020:  $3,099,301

Daniel J Morissette:  Total Compensation 2020-2023:  $17 million

• 2023:  $4,187,662
• 2022: $4,958,895
• 2021:  $3,744,852
• 2020:  $3,711,706

Elizabeth Shih:  Total Compensation 2020-2023:  $17 million

• 2023:  $4,186,979
• 2022:  $4,489,579
• 2021:  $3,643,868
• 2020:  $4,226,484

Robert Wiebe:  Total Compensation 2020-2023:  $14 million

• 2023:  $3,606,621
• 2022: $4,108,512
• 2021:  $3,163,843
• 2020:  $3,246,468

Suja Chandrasekaran:  Total Compensation 2021-2023:  $9 million

• 2023:  $3,511,054
• 2022: $3,069,170
• 2021:  $2,055,640

Ketul Patel:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $12 million

• 2023:  $3,097,504
• 2022: $ 3,596,145
• 2021:  $2,536,258
• 2020:  $2,666,863

Darryl Robinson:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $14 million

• 2023:  $3,122,766
• 2022: $3,575,043
• 2021:  $4,194,176
• 2020:  $3,343,413

John Petersdorf:  Total Compensation 2023:  $3 million

• 2023:  $3,026,445  

CH paid for first class or charter travel and made gross up payments or provided tax indemnifications. For 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.

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

• $594 million: Conifer Health Solutions, of Frisco, TX for revenue cycle services
• $ 69 million:  Sodexo Inc and Affiliates, of Pittsburgh, PA for food services
• $ 31 million:  Polsinelli, of Kansas City, MO for legal services
• $ 22 million:  Epic Systems Corp, of Verona, WI for EHR management
• $ 18 million:  HCL Technologies, of Uttar Padish (near Nepal)

To read the IRS Form 990 (2022 for the year ending June 30, 2023), click here.