Hospital Transparency Dashboard
Financial data from IRS 990 forms to help patients make informed decisions
Why This Matters — For You
Every time you or a loved one walks into a hospital, you're not just a patient — you're a funder. Your insurance premiums, tax dollars, and out-of-pocket costs bankroll a $1.2 trillion nonprofit hospital industry. Yet you rarely get to see the price tag until the bill arrives.
The quality of care you receive varies wildly depending on where you live and which system you walk into. Some nonprofit hospitals invest heavily in charity care and community benefit. Others funnel millions into executive pay while charity care spending quietly shrinks. You deserve to know which is which.
+92%
Growth from 2005 to 2015, reaching $3.1M average
44:1
CEO-to-nurse ratio, up from 23:1 in 2005
+2.3%
Registered nurse pay growth, 2012–2019
While hospital CEO compensation nearly doubled, the wages of the registered nurses at your bedside crept up just 2.3% over seven years — barely outpacing inflation. The people who hold your hand through surgery are falling further behind the people who sign the paychecks.
Health Equity Watch exists because sunlight is the best disinfectant. When patients can see where the money goes — who gets paid what, how much reaches the community, and how their local hospital compares — they can make informed choices, demand accountability, and push for a system that serves patients, not just executives.
Source: Jenkins D, Short MN, Ho V. "The determinants of nonprofit hospital CEO compensation." PLOS ONE, 2024. Read the study.
Why Pharma & Insurance Pay Matters
Hospital executive pay doesn't exist in a vacuum. The money that flows through a health system is shaped by two powerful industries sitting on either side of the bedside — the companies that make the drugs and the companies that pay the bill. When those industries reward their own leaders handsomely, the cost finds its way back to patients.
Drug manufacturers and retail pharmacies set the prices that hospitals pay for life-saving therapies. Those costs are passed directly into insurance premiums, deductibles, and the price of every prescription you fill.
Insurers decide what care is covered, what they'll pay for it, and what they'll deny. Their executive compensation is funded by the premiums you pay every month — whether or not you ever use the coverage.
Top-executive vs. frontline-worker pay gap
27×
Avg top-5 exec ($3,794,919/yr) vs BLS pharmacist median ($140,910/yr)
Highest: Heyward Donigan, RITE AID CORP
231×
Avg top-5 exec ($14,383,175/yr) vs BLS insurance sales agent median ($62,280/yr)
Highest: Michel A. Khalaf, METLIFE INC
Ratios use the average total compensation of the five highest-paid named executives in each sector (SEC DEF 14A) against the BLS national median annual wage for the frontline role.
A hospital CEO's multi-million-dollar package is easier to understand when you can see it alongside the pay of the pharma executive who priced the drug and the insurance executive who approved the claim. These three industries are financially interlocked — what one pays its leaders shapes what the others can charge, and patients sit at the end of every chain.
By tracking executive compensation across hospitals, pharmacies, and insurers on a single platform, Health Equity Watch lets you follow the money from the boardroom to your bedside — and judge whether the rewards at the top are justified by the value delivered to patients at the bottom.
Sources: SEC DEF 14A proxy statements (pharmacy & insurance), IRS Form 990 filings (nonprofit hospitals), and BLS OEWS/OOH 2025 national median wages for frontline roles. Compensation figures reflect the most recent fiscal year disclosed by each company.
Health Systems
2973
Being tracked
501(c)(3) Nonprofits
2970
100% of total
Combined Revenue
$1102.8B
From 990 filings
Avg Pay Ratio
165×
Fed Min Wage Multiple (501c3)
Ownership Breakdown
CEO vs. RN Pay Gap — The Extremes
Widest Gap
Beverly Community Hospital Association
Los Angeles, CA
Narrowest Gap
Dameron Hospital Association
Stockton, CA
Compares each 501(c)(3) system's top-reported executive pay against the BLS median annual wage for Registered Nurses in that system's state, then surfaces the largest and smallest resulting ratios.
Pay Ratio Metric
3807×
federal minimum wage
vs. Lowest-Paid Healthcare Worker
1712×Home Health & Personal Care Aides — BLS median $33,530/yr, the lowest-paid healthcare occupation tracked by BLS.
Total Officer Compensation
All Officers (Combined)
Aggregate from IRS Form 990
$57,403,376
(380,559% above min wage)
501(c)(3) Executive Compensation Rankings
1490 systems · Compensation from IRS Form 990 filings vs. federal minimum wage
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The New York And Presbyterian Hospital New York, NY | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $57,403,376 | 3807× | 380,559% | 80.3 yrs |
| 2 | Texas Childrens Hospital Bellaire, TX | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $51,408,310 | 3409× | 340,804% | 77.9 yrs |
| 3 | Beverly Community Hospital Association Los Angeles, CA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $45,523,499 | 3019× | 301,780% | 80.2 yrs |
| 4 | Nyu Langone Hospitals New York, NY | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $41,930,798 | 2781× | 277,956% | 80.3 yrs |
| 5 | Rush University Medical Center Chicago, IL | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $32,963,605 | 2186× | 218,492% | 78.2 yrs |
| 6 | New York Society For The Relief Of Ruptured & Crippled Maintaining New York, NY | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $29,265,173 | 1941× | 193,966% | 80.3 yrs |
| 7 | Corewell Health Grand Rapids, MI | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $28,086,837 | 1863× | 186,152% | 77.4 yrs |
| 8 | University Hospitals Health System Inc Shaker Hts, OH | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $25,660,752 | 1702× | 170,064% | 76.6 yrs |
| 9 | Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville, TN | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $24,639,622 | 1634× | 163,293% | 75.5 yrs |
| 10 | North Carolina Baptist Hospital Winstonsalem, NC | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $24,560,692 | 1629× | 162,769% | 77.4 yrs |
| 11 | Methodist Hospital Houston, TX | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $23,787,514 | 1577× | 157,642% | 77.9 yrs |
| 12 | Cedars-sinai Medical Center W Hollywood, CA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $21,276,617 | 1411× | 140,992% | 80.2 yrs |
| 13 | University Of Chicago Medical Center Chicago, IL | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $20,273,950 | 1344× | 134,343% | 78.2 yrs |
| 14 | Childrens Hospital Corporation Boston, MA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $19,398,543 | 1286× | 128,538% | 80.3 yrs |
| 15 | University Hospitals Health System Inc Shaker Hts, OH | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $18,219,114 | 1208× | 120,716% | 76.6 yrs |
| 16 | Ohiohealth Corporation Grant Riverside Doctors Dublin Met Columbus, OH | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $18,107,089 | 1201× | 119,974% | 76.6 yrs |
| 17 | The Childrens Hospital Of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $17,560,884 | 1165× | 116,351% | 78.1 yrs |
| 18 | Hackensack Meridian Health Inc Iselin, NJ | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $17,203,376 | 1141× | 113,981% | 79.6 yrs |
| 19 | The Methodist Hospital Houston, TX | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $16,517,166 | 1095× | 109,430% | 77.9 yrs |
| 20 | Childrens Hospital Medical Center Of Akron Akron, OH | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $16,497,230 | 1094× | 109,298% | 76.6 yrs |
| 21 | Kaiser Permanente Oakland, California | Gregory Adams Chairman & CEO | $16,400,000 | 1088× | 108,653% | — |
| 22 | Valley Childrens Hospital Madera, CA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $16,288,559 | 1080× | 107,914% | 80.2 yrs |
| 23 | Charleston Area Medical Center Inc Charleston, WV | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $16,069,614 | 1066× | 106,462% | 75.7 yrs |
| 24 | Methodist Hospitals Of Dallas Dallas, TX | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $15,488,223 | 1027× | 102,607% | 77.9 yrs |
| 25 | Pasadena Hospital Association Ltd Pasadena, CA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $14,924,189 | 990× | 98,867% | 80.2 yrs |
| 26 | Childrens Hospital Washington, DC | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $14,818,486 | 983× | 98,166% | 76.4 yrs |
| 27 | Phoenix Childrens Hospital Phoenix, AZ | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $14,716,657 | 976× | 97,491% | 78.4 yrs |
| 28 | University Health System Inc Knoxville, TN | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $14,158,898 | 939× | 93,792% | 75.5 yrs |
| 29 | Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital Lebanon, NH | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $13,842,996 | 918× | 91,697% | 80.0 yrs |
| 30 | Childrens Hospital And Health System Inc Milwaukee, WI | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $13,419,698 | 890× | 88,890% | 79.0 yrs |
| 31 | Ascension Health St. Louis, Missouri | Joseph Impicciche President & CEO | $13,000,000 | 862× | 86,107% | — |
| 32 | Childrens Hospital Colorado Aurora, CO | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,915,076 | 856× | 85,544% | 79.5 yrs |
| 33 | St Lukes Hospital Of Duluth Duluth, MN | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,819,548 | 850× | 84,910% | 80.5 yrs |
| 34 | St Francis Hospital Roslyn, NY | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,695,666 | 842× | 84,089% | 80.3 yrs |
| 35 | Northwest Hospital Center Inc Randallstown, MD | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,691,906 | 842× | 84,064% | 78.7 yrs |
| 36 | Pih Health Whittier Hospital Whittier, CA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,615,626 | 837× | 83,558% | 80.2 yrs |
| 37 | Louisiana Childrens Medical Center New Orleans, LA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,581,854 | 834× | 83,334% | 75.4 yrs |
| 38 | Texas Scottish Rite Hospital For Children Dallas, TX | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,412,973 | 823× | 82,214% | 77.9 yrs |
| 39 | Sentara Hospitals Virginia Bch, VA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,137,543 | 805× | 80,388% | 78.3 yrs |
| 40 | Mount Sinai Hospital New York, NY | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,082,321 | 801× | 80,021% | 80.3 yrs |
| 41 | Corewell Health Grand Rapids, MI | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $12,026,609 | 798× | 79,652% | 77.4 yrs |
| 42 | Childrens Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, OH | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $11,879,725 | 788× | 78,678% | 76.6 yrs |
| 43 | Childrens Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, OH | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $11,879,725 | 788× | 78,678% | 76.6 yrs |
| 44 | White Plains Medical Center White Plains, NY | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $11,855,380 | 786× | 78,517% | 80.3 yrs |
| 45 | Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $11,852,244 | 786× | 78,496% | 80.2 yrs |
| 46 | Childrens Mercy Hospital Kansas City, MO | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $11,641,443 | 772× | 77,098% | 77.0 yrs |
| 47 | Nyu Langone Hospitals Mineola, NY | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $11,586,732 | 768× | 76,735% | 80.3 yrs |
| 48 | Rady Childrens Hospital San Diego San Diego, CA | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $11,546,001 | 766× | 76,465% | 80.2 yrs |
| 49 | Advocate Aurora Health (Advocate Health) Charlotte, North Carolina | Eugene Woods CEO | $11,500,000 | 763× | 76,160% | — |
| 50 | Mount Sinai Medical Center Of Florida Inc Miami Beach, FL | All Officers (Combined) Total Officer Comp | $11,485,368 | 762× | 76,063% | 78.4 yrs |
Showing 50 of 1490