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POPULATION HEALTH
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CEO
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STRATEGY
Executive pay
at CHS, Tenet
and HCA: 8
things to know
By Ayla Ellison
S
ome top executives at major for-profit
hospital operators saw their total com-
pensation rise last year, while others
saw total pay decline.
Eight things to know about executive com-
pensation at Community Health Systems,
HCA Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare:
CHS
1. Tim Hingten received a base salary of $1.2
million in 2021, up from the $1 million he
made in his former role as COO of the Franklin,
Tenn.-based company. He will get a base salary
of $1.25 million this year. He will also be able to
earn up to 225 percent of his salary in 2022 from
CHS' performance incentive plan.
2. CHS President and CFO Kevin Hammons
received a base salary of $700,000 last year.
His base salary is $750,000 this year, and he'll
be able to earn up to 125 percent of his salary
in cash bonuses.
3. CHS President of Clinical Operations and
CMO Lynn Simon, MD, will get a base sala-
ry of $643,775 in 2022, up from $625,000 in
2021. She will also be able to earn up to 115
percent of her salary from CHS' performance
incentive plan.
HCA
4. Samuel Hazen, who became CEO of Nash-
ville, Tenn.-based HCA in January 2019, re-
ceived a base salary of $1.48 million last year,
compared to $1.34 million in 2020. Aer
factoring in incentive compensation, stock
awards and pension benefits, Mr. Hazen's
compensation totaled $20.64 million in 2021,
compared to $30.4 million a year earlier.
5. HCA Executive Vice President and CFO
William Rutherford's salary increased from
$831,251 in 2020 to $916,743 in 2021. He
ended last year with total compensation of
$7.16 million, up from $6.13 million in 2020.
6. HCA American Group President Jon Foster
and National Group President Charles Hall
each received a salary of $899,113 in 2021, up
from $815,264 in 2020. Mr. Foster's compen-
sation totaled $6.05 million last year, and Mr.
Hall's compensation totaled $5.63 million.
Tenet
7. Saum Sutaria, MD, who became CEO of
Dallas-based Tenet last year, received a base
salary of $1.2 million. His salary was $1 mil-
lion in 2020, when he served as the company's
president COO. As CEO, Dr. Sutaria is eligi-
ble to receive an annual incentive bonus of at
least 125 percent of his base salary.
8. Ronald Rittenmeyer served as CEO and
executive chair of Tenet before leaving the
CEO role last year. He will serve as executive
chair of the company until the end of 2023
and as an executive advisor to Tenet's CEO
and board from Jan. 1, 2024, through the
end of 2025, under an amended employment
agreement entered into this year. Under the
agreement, Tenet will pay Mr. Rittenmeyer an
annual salary of $750,000, and he'll be eligible
to receive annual bonuses. n
Hospital collaborations
are a 'win-win'
By Georgina Gonzalez
W
hile many hospitals are concerned with
their competition, collaborating with neigh-
boring systems may be a win-win strategy,
bringing better clinical outcomes to patients, accord-
ing to a March 16 Harvard Business Review report.
In the late 1990s, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michi-
gan launched a collaborative program that brought
together more than 50 Michigan hospitals to tackle
cardiovascular disease. Without fear of competition,
hospitals opened their notes with each other, sharing
tips on their successes, for instance low post-surgical
infection rates or high performing tobacco cessa-
tion programs. The collaboration ended up lowering
costs, reducing hospitalizations and improving qual-
ity of care.
That initiative was the first of many collaborative qual-
ity initiatives across the state, which in total saved up
to $1.4 billion in healthcare costs.
These sorts of collaborations allow hospitals to place
their performance in context and compare them-
selves to other systems, thereby identifying weak-
ness and opportunities for improvement in their own
systems. Collaboration then may provide opportuni-
ties for systems to better themselves in all aspects. n
Top 5 billionaires
in US healthcare
By Ayla Ellison
T
hree healthcare industry leaders each have a net worth of
more than $9 billion.
Ranked on descending net worth, here are the top
five healthcare leaders on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of
Feb. 23.
1. Thomas Frist Jr., MD: $21.6 billion
Dr. Frist is a co-founder of HCA Healthcare. He owns more than
20 percent of the Nashville, Tenn.-based company.
2. Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD: $9.8 billion
Dr. Soon-Shiong invented the cancer drug Abraxane. He sold his
drug companies Abraxis and American Pharmaceutical Partners
for a combined $9.1 billion.
3. Carl Cook: $9.6 billion
Mr. Cook is the CEO of Cook Group, a medical device manufacturer.
4. Reinhold Schmieding: $8.6 billion
Mr. Schmieding is the founder and president of Arthrex, an ortho-
pedic surgical tools company.
5. Ronda Stryker: $7.6 billion
Ms. Stryker is the director of Stryker Corp., a medical equipment
company founded by her grandfather. n
