Tenet Healthcare CEO Saum Sutaria, M.D., brought in nearly $21.2 million in total compensation during his first year in the top spot at one of the country’s largest for-profit healthcare provider companies, according to Securities and Exchange Commission fillings published Friday.
The latest haul puts Sutaria well above the roughly $8.6 million and $14 million he claimed in 2020 and 2019 under his prior titles of president and chief operating officer.
It also lands above the $16.7 million former CEO Ron Rittenmeyer claimed in 2020 during his last year in the role, as well as the $18.7 million in total compensation he received this year as the company’s executive chairman.
Other top executives at Tenet who were listed in the filing stayed at seven figures during 2021.
Dan Cancelmi, executive vice president and chief financial officer, received a total of $9.4 million in 2021, up from $7.2 million in 2020.
Tom Arnst, executive vice president, chief administrative officer, general counsel and corporate secretary, brought home $3.7 million during his first year. Prior to this year, Arnst served as a leader at Tenet’s Conifer subsidiary and, as such, does not have previous years’ compensation listed in the filing.
Paola Arbrour, executive vice president and chief information officer, claimed $2.9 million in total compensation during 2021, up from nearly $2.5 million in 2020.
Audrey Andrews, the company’s former executive vice president and general counsel from whom Arnst took over, retired from her role with a final payout of $3.1 million in 2021.
Sutaria’s compensation was comprised of more than $1.1 million in base salary, $15 million in stock awards and $4.5 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation. He also received over $507,000 in “all other compensation,” which, according to the filing, included nearly $60,000 tied to personal use of the company’s aircraft.
The median total compensation of all Tenet Healthcare employees other than Sutaria was $55,245 in 2021, representing a 383:1 ratio between the CEO and the median employee.
Tenet employed roughly 101,000 employees as of Dec. 31. It operates 60 hospitals and approximately 550 other healthcare facilities, its ambulatory surgery subsidiary United Surgical Partners International and its revenue cycle subsidiary Conifer Health Solutions.
Sutaria’s total compensation outpaces that of HCA Healthcare CEO Samuel N. Hazen, last year’s top earner, by about $600,000.
Universal Health Services and Community Health Systems, the country’s other two leading for-profit healthcare provider organizations, have yet to release annual proxy reports detailing the compensation of their executives.