According to the 990 Federal Tax Forms in 2003, this not-for-profit Catholic health care system was actually run by a management firm.

In 2004 James Harden became President and CEO.

That year he received $678,067 in total compensation.

In 2005 that amount jumped by over $460,000 to $1,134,875.

And according to their just posted 990 for 2006, his total compensation increased by over $509,000, bringing his total for 2006 to $1,644,750.

I have been called cynical and have been accused by defenders of the Catholic Church of an anti-Catholic bias, but wouldn’t you agree that those increases are excessive?

Profits at this system are more than doubling every year.

According to their audited financial statements, profits are as follows.

2004, $9,878,000.

2005, $17,865,000.

2006, $38,001,000.

2007, $89,419,000.

That year, he received $1,759,102 in total compensation.

In 2004, he was listed as President Emeritus, and received $1,308,118 in total compensation for consulting work.

In addition that year he received $44,885 for "expense accountant and other allowances".

Sadly for him, his name did not appear on their 2005 990 Federal Tax Form.

But on their newly posted 990 for the tear 2006, he's back big time.

With no explanation, his name appears as a "former employee".

That year in addition to the $58,000 he received for "expense account and other allowances", he received $1,117,000 in total compensation.

It's not like they don't have the money.

Profits at this not-for-profit Catholic healthcare system?

2005, $229,476,000.

2006, $199,208,000.

2007, $254,819,000.

Stanley Urban is no longer Secretary.

But no need to hold a tag day.

In 2004, working as Secretary, he received $846,837 in total compensation.

In 2005, that amount jumped to $980,000 even.

That 2006 990 lists him as a "former" employee.

That year his total compensation came in at $1,367,881.

In addition, he received $43,400 in "expense account and other allowances".

Located in Wallingford CT., according to its 2006 990 Federal Tax Form its total revenue was just over $52 million.

Arthur Santilli is President and CEO.

In 2004, he received $475,205 in total compensation.

In 2005, that amount came in lower, totaling $424,193.

But it 2006, it took a huge jump all the way up to $729,919.

In addition between the center and its parent organization, you'll find more vice-presidents than you will at many very large hospitals.

Something someone who has investigative powers might want to take a look at.

This not-for-profit health care system has three hospitals located in the Hudson Valley of New York.

For year end 12/31/04 he received $282,515 in total compensation for his almost 7 months of work.

That averages out to just over $40,000 a month.

In 2005, for twelve months work as President and CEO, he received $755,695 in total compensation.

That averages out to almost $63,000 a month.

In 2006, he received $972,388 in total compensation.

That averages out to better than $81,000 a month.

According to the American Hospital Directory, their largest hospital, Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY marks up its actual costs by 400%.

"Bill Foley, the CEO of Mokena-based Provena Health resigned Friday, citing 'personal and professional reasons' in a statement from the health system.

"A Provena spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the statement and said Mr. Foley wasn't available to take questions."

Always wondered about that.

For those of you unfamiliar with Provena, it has become ground zero in the war over whether price gouging profitable not-for-profit hospitals can have their tax-exempt status removed, as was done to Provena by the then local Assessor Stan Jenkins.

That was early in 2003.

When this battle began, the CEO of Provena was a man named William Foley.

I have reported previously that in 2002, William received $607,413 in total compensation.

In 2003 that grew to $766,422 in total compensation.

In 2004 he got a big jump all the way up to $952,068 in total compensation.

In 2005, he joined the millionaires club as he received $1,010,066 in total compensation.

And then as Crain's reported he retired in mid-November 2006.

Well the 2006 990 Federal Tax Form for Provena has just been posted and it shows that for the ten and a half months he worked that year, his total compensation came to $1,018,759, which is slightly more than he made for 12 months the previous year.

As for those four little letters I asked about in the headline, on that 990 William Foley was listed as "Sys Pres/CEO-Term".

Interesting especially in the light of that sudden and mysterious resignation that neither Foley or Provena would comment on.

Here's how I read that description.

"Sys" stands for System.

"Term" stands for Terminated".

Is that what Provena is trying to tell us, is that they terminated him?

Sure looks like it to me.

Now maybe a main stream reporter can get the answer why.

Not-for-profit Provena Health is trying to get its tax-exempt status returned.

In 2003, the local Assessor removed it.

The professional staff at the Illinois Department of Revenue after reviewing that decision agreed with the Assessor.

That decision was appealed to the Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue.

In October 2006, he ruled against the hospital.

In July of 2007, Crain's Chicago Business wrote in part that "Provena will make its case Friday in an appeal to a Springfield judge for why the Urbana hospital deserves an exemption. A Provena spokeswoman doesn't expect a ruling for 30 to 45 days". (Emphasis added.)

30 to 45 days?

Try more like 30 to 45 minutes.

What a farce.

Bruce Japsen a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, summed it up nicely with these two paragraphs in his story.

"The decision's speed came as a surprise to all parties because Illinois 7th Circuit Court Judge Patrick Londrigan issued his ruling Friday afternoon from the bench of his Sangamon County courtroom here after the state and Provena spent less than an hour each arguing whether the hospital deserved its tax exemption.

"Although the judge said little and did not elaborate on his decision or the reason in court, he said he was 'not foolish enough to think' the issue over charity care and hospital tax-exempt status would end in his courtroom."

The 4th District Appellate Court heard the case on June 18th, 2008.

the 4th District's own rules state that their decisions will be issued within sixty days.

Well boys and girls, 60 days is a week from this Saturday.

So it will be a week from this Friday at the very latest.

No matter what, I expect this to go to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Their 2006 990 Federal Tax Form has just been posted so we can update you on his total compensation.

But, first, let's review his history.

According to previous 990's, here's what he has received in total compensation over the years.

2002, $959,335.

2003, $1,074,670.

2004, $1,451,390.

2005, $3,760,858.

And in 2006, according to that just posted 990, his total compensation dropped to just $895,368.

As I said, I wonder how he's making ends meet.

For those 9 months of that calendar year, he received $538,519 in total compensation.

In addition he received $282,328 in "recruiting bonus, moving expenses and other compensation".

Their 990 Federal Tax Form for 2005 shows that that year, he received $1,177,499 in total compensation.

And in 2006, his total income jumped to $1,415,706.

While some hospitals provide financial data, here to learn about whether they are making money or not, you click on the words "Financial Resilience".

Poke around that website some more and they will tell you among other things that their "goal is to be Southern California's preferred, operationally excellent, fiscally sound provider of high quality health care". (Emphasis added.)

On their annual report they even list a "top ten ambitions for the next decade".

Number one on that list?

"Prepare for financial challenges."

Under "government relations they say that "You can make a difference on important issues such as health care reform, children's health and welfare, increased funding for medical services...". (Emphasis added.)

They don't use the word profit or excess, what they report is "this left the following balance of revenues over expenses".

I'll just call them profits.

According to their 2004 annual report, the system made a profit of $37,250,000.

In 2005, profits went through the roof coming in at $100,283,000!

In 2006, profits totaled $89,409,000.

And in 2007, profits came in at $89,260,000.

One of the ways that their profit picture remains "resilient" is that according to the American Hospital Directory, at their hospital in Anaheim, they mark up their actual costs by 502%.

His total compensation?

2003, $754,921.

2004, $800,265.

2005, $893,596.

2006, Ka-ching!

His long slow climb towards membership in the millionaires club was finally realized as his total compensation for the year totaled $1,024,048.

Sadly for Barry it's not as an exclusive club as it used to be.

What is remarkable about that is the fact that total revenue was only $198.2 million.

That's a profit margin of almost 14%.

In 2005, they reported making a profit in 2005 of $23,876,880.

That represented a profit margin of 11.3%.

Dennis Reilly, their President and CEO is enjoying the benefits of running a very profitable not-for-profit hospital.

In 2003, he received $388,014 in total compensation.

In 2004, he received $432,400 in total compensation.

In 2005 he received $522,427 in total compensation.

And just to prove that that big increase was no one time deal, in 2006 he received $542,823 in total compensation.

It's doing quite well.

According to its 990's in 2004 this system reported making a profit of $71,424,185.

in 2005 profits totaled $84,228,214.

And according to that newly posted 990, in 2006, profits came in at $108,308,851.

That same 990 shows that they are sitting on cash and investments that total $1,374,672,839.

Kevin Leahy is the President and CEO.

His total compensation has been creeping up.

In 2004 it totaled $915,700.

In 2005, it totaled $978,704.

And in 2006, it totaled $1,030,731.

When he finally joined the millionaires club I wonder if he was depressed to see so many of his colleagues had already joined.

William Lammers is listed on that 2006 990 as the "former SVP and CFO".

That year this former employee received $1,058,113 in total compensation.

He's not to be found on previous 990's so I can't tell you if he got a big going away present or not.

In looking at their just posted 990 Federal Tax Form, and previous ones I found some interesting numbers.

In 2004 President and CEO J. Ronald Gaudreault received $481,373 in total compensation.

In 2005, that amount increased to $546,543 even though he was no longer working.

In 2006, still hanging on, former employee J. Ronald received another $335,968 in total compensation.

In 2005, Kevin Lawlor took over as President and CEO, after having served as SVP and CFO.

In his first year as President and CEO, he received $464,456 in total compensation.

In 2006, he received a very nice increase, which brought his total compensation to $634,001.

If the 990's are to be believed, and there is no reason they shouldn't be, Kevin found an interesting way to raise the revenue to help pay for that $169,545 increase that he received in total compensation.

The 990 for 2005 shows that under the category of "other revenue" that "television fees" totaled $5,000.

The 2006 990 shows that "television fees" generated additional revenue of $188,846.

The $183,846 increase in television fees was more than enough to cover the $169,545 increase in compensation.

That's why these guys get paid the big bucks.

They're creative!

Let me quote some more.

"Mike Waters has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Hendrick Medical Center since December 1, 1980. He retired effective November 1, 2004 at the age of 62. Most of his final employee benefits were paid to him during FYE 8/31/04 in anticipation of his upcoming retirement. Therefore the reported compensation for Mr. Waters exceeded his usual annual salary. As part of his salary payments he received the following benefits in addition to his annual salary. The $597,568 reported consists of the following:

Salary $300,000

Bonus $126,000

Taxable benefits received $9,000

Accrued paid time-off $85,099

Rabbi Trust payment $77,469

Total compensation $597,568

"In addition to Mike Water's compensation agreement, he also had a deferred compensation agreement with Hendrick Medical Center. The agreement was entered into February 8, 1983 and then revised September 7, 1990, November 6, 1992, August 21, 1996 and July 19, 2001. These deferred compensation agreements were for the recognition of Mr. Waters past services and to encourage his continued loyalty>, service and counsel, and to assist him in providing for the contingencies of death and retirement. This deferred compensation benefit was paid to Mr. Waters in a lump sum in November of 2004. Some of this deferred benefit had been accrued by the hospital over the years. The amount of $498,926 was the final accrual amount for August 31, 2004 to fully fund the benefit." (Emphasis' added.)

When dealing with CEO compensation at not-for-profit you have to treat explanations and definitions the way Bill Clinton did when he famously said, "it depends on what the definition of is is".

Here we have to figure what the following statement meant.

"Most of his final employee benefits were paid to him during FYE 8/31/04 in anticipation of his upcoming retirement."

So what does the word most mean.

My dictionary says it means "greatest in quantity or degree, the majority of".

So if he got most of his final employment benefits paid to him during FYW 8/31/04, you would expect that to mean that the amount would be more than what he received when he actually retired two months later.

Here's what their FYE 8/31/05 990 says.

"The deferred compensation previously accrued was paid to Mr. Waters in a lump sum in November 2004."

The amount?

$1,175,000.

Oh yeah, we should tell you that that 990 also informs us that "he entered into a consulting agreement for three years to continue his service to the company for a limited time and aid in the transition of management upon his departure'.

Those "consulting services" put another $113,024 into his pocket that year.

Paying for loyalty doesn’t really result in loyalty.

Now remember what you read above, that for FYE 8/31/04 that the total compensation for Mr. Waters that year "exceeded his usual annual salary".

That year Mr. Waters received $300,000 just in salary for a full 12 months.

In 2005, Tim Lancaster received $304,570 just in salary for ten months at the helm.

His total compensation that year came to $344,555.

For FYE 8/31/06 Tim salary jumped to $491,188, while his total compensation that year came in at $568,931.

Mike Waters got another $82,997 in consulting fees that year as the transition continued into its 22 month.

The following year, he was promoted to President and CEO on April 8, 2004.

In 2004, his total compensation came to $1,207,604.

For calendar year 2005, Dr. John received a whopping $2,680,897 in total compensation.

And according to their just posted 990 Federal Tax Form for calendar year 2006, he received $1,869,982 in total compensation.

A reminder, profits at this not-for-profit Catholic healthcare system have increased from $308,230,000 in FY2005, to $451,143,000 in FY2006, to $654,582,000 in FY2007.

The 2006 990 Federal Tax Form was posted yesterday for one of those very profitable not-for-profit systems, Clarian Health.

According to their financial statements, in 2006, they reported making a profit of $206,753,000.

In 2007 profits came in at $181,312,000.Keep in mind, that these profits are after losses on Medicaid, uncollected bills, charity care and excessive compensation (at least in my mind) to their top people.

Daniel Evans Jr. is the President and CEO of Clarian Health.

His total compensation has increased from $765,547 in 2003, to $1,071,174 in 2004, to $1,194,258 in 2005, to $1,292,713 in 2006.

I bet he can't wait until he's a former employee.

David Handel left after 8 months in 2004, he was the COO.

In 2004, he received $3,857,904 in total compensation.

In 2005, former employee David received $558,837 in total compensation.

In 2006, former former (2 years removed) employee David received $2,540,779 in total compensation.

In 2002, Bill Loveday was listed as "former President and CEO".

That year former employee Bill received $3,767,397 in total compensation.

He didn't show up again until the 2005 990 was posted.

That year, Bill, who was just listed as a former employee received $1,781,915 in total compensation.

Bill shows up again on that just posted 12/31/06 990 Federal Tax Form, and again he's just identified as a former employee.

His total compensation that year?

Hold on to your hats boys and girls and taxpayers.

$6,108,134.

Not bad for a guy who hasn't worked there in a very long time.

If you, the good people of Indianapolis are wondering about who your other very profitable not-for-profit hospital system is, wonder no more.

St. Vincent's is part of Ascension Health, a not-for-profit Catholic health care system that according to its 2007 audited financial statement reported making a profit of $1,215,000,000 and having cash and investments that totaled $11,141,854,000.

Those figures again.

$1.215 BILLION in profit.

$11.1 BILLION in savings.

They don't pay taxes, which means that you pay more!

If you want to start a taxpayers revolt, but aren’t sure how, I’ll be more than glad to help you, free of charge.

According to the American Hospital Directory (AHD), for year end 12/31/06, their largest hospital, not-for-profit Methodist Hospital marked up their actual cost of drugs by 346%.

AHD reports that for year end 6/30/07, Saint Vincent’s which is part of Ascension Health, a not-for-profit Catholic healthcare system which is devoted to furthering the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, marks up their actual cost for drugs by 487%.

First some background.

In December of 2005, the Wall Street Journal looked at some ethical controversies at not-for-profit The Cleveland Clinic.

In a box within the story titled "Surgical Thread" they summed up one example. "The Cleveland Clinic has been an advocate of heart surgery with a device from AtriCure Inc. and has done the operation on 1,247 patients while having undisclosed ties to the manufacturer. Among them:

A venture fund the Clinic helped set up and put money into invested in AtriCure.

The Clinic's CEO helped manage that fund and invested in it himself.

The Clinic's CEO sat on the AtriCure board.

He developed a device AtriCure plans to market, which would bring him royalties.

Another Clinic doctor, who used the device and reviewed it favorably in publications, was a paid consultant to AtriCure."

The Clinic's chief executive they were talking about in the article was heart surgeon "Toby" Cosgrove.

The article went on to report that the relationship came to the attention of the hospital's conflict of interests committee where after "famed cardiologist Eric Topol questioned the ties to AtriCure."

Two more things to quote from that article.

Apparently as punishment for his whistle blowing, "Dr. Toby Cosgrove last week told Dr. Topol he was losing his top post at the Clinic's medical school, a change that will take Dr. Topol off the conflict-of-interests committee.."

And finally there was this gem. "Dr. Topol had a conflicts issue of his own last year when an investment fund to which he was a paid advisor bet against Merck's stock."

Dr. Topol had been an outspoken critic of Vioxx, the withdrawn Merck and Company drug.

"Dr. Topol resigned as a paid advisor to that investment fund."

As This Story shows, Topol wound up resigning just two months into 2006.

According to this hospitals' 990 Federal Tax Forms, before the ethics fight, here's what the famed Dr. Topol received in total compensation.

In 2004, $1,468,234.

In 2005, $1,487,873.

In 2006 after resigning or being pushed out after only two months, his total compensation for that year came to $4,383,217.

Floyd was the President and CEO of this incredibly profitable not-for-profit hospital (in FY2006, they reported making a profit of $450,562,000 and reported having $4,623,328,000 in cash and investments).

According to their 990 Federal Tax Forms, in 2003, his last full year on the job, he received $1,727,799 in total compensation.

He retired after 9 months of 2004.

For those nine months he worked in 2004, he received $1,738,552 in total compensation.

Then there's this.

The following language is taken from this organization's 2004 990 Federal Tax Form.

Cleveland Clinic (CCF) "has entered into split dollar insurance arrangements with some of its senior officers and key employees. Under these arrangements, CCF determines the amount of the premium that is allocable to the life insurance benefit provided to the individual and treats such premium as a loan to the individual in accordance with IRS notice 2002-8. These arrangements require that the individual repay the applicable amount of such premium to CCF with interest no later than upon death of the uninsured. The amount" ... "represents the total loan balance to date"... "Interest is charged on the...amount at the applicable federal rate..."

While I can't find anything about this on their 2003 990, I can tell you that in 2004, the amount of the loan listed for Floyd Loop was $3,500,445.

In 2005, former employee Floyd received $1,771,960 in total compensation, and that loan had grown to $5,380,245.

In 2006, former former (2 years removed) employee Flod received $1,121,415 in total compensation, and the amount of the loan had grown to $6,422,090.

Robert Kay M.D. is the President and CEO of not-for-profit The Cleveland Clinic in Florida.

In 2005, he received $944,894 in total compensation.

In 2006, that amount jumped to $1,561,754.

That's up from $4,761,000 profit they reported making the year before.

This is a two hospital system.

According to the American Hospital Directory for year end 12/31/06 the larger of the two hospitals, marks up its actual costs by 551%.

Can't tell you how much the CEO is paid, as the system only says they pay a consulting firm for management services, they don't pay the employees directly.

The consulting firm is called Navigant Consulting.

Here's in part how they describe themselves.

"Navigant Consulting works with healthcare providers, payers and life science companies to help improve their strategic, operational and financial performance."

Well they certainly helped St. Joseph's improve their financial performance.

And here's another tidbit, one of the members of the Board of Directors of Navigant is Valerie Jarrett, the woman who is heading up Barack Obama's transition team for President.

Health care reform you can believe in.

According to that systems 990 Federal Tax Forms, here's her total compensation.

2004, $703,629.

2005, $845,491.

2006, $1,031,974.

According to their FY2007 annual audit, over the past two years (2006 and 2007) this not-for-profit system has realized an increase in unrestricted net assets of $107,495,000.

You don't think big increases in CEO compensation and big profits are contributing to the increases in the cost of health care do you?

According to the American Hospital Directory, between 6/30/05 and 6/30/07, actual costs at this hospital increased by $27 million.

During that same period, charges increased by an incredible $266 million.

In their 2007 annual report to the community, leadership writes "when looking back over the past year we can't help but think about the history of great decisions Hamot's leadership has made for this community".

I don't think those types of increases in charges should be considered a great decision.

But what about those increases.

In that same report, they inform us that "as more information about pricing and outcomes is made readily available via the internet, Hamot is poised to respond.

"Consequently Hamot will make price transparency one of our primary future goals."

Primary future goals?

What does that mean?

I think it means it ain't coming anytime soon.

Typed in both uninsured and discount policy on their website-no matches found, what a surprise.

According to their 990 Federal Tax Forms, in 2003, he received $727,417 in salary, and $2,151 in contributions to his employee benefit plan, for a total of $729,568 in total compensation.

In 2004 he received $817,789 in salary and $1,649 in contributions to his employee benefit plans, for a total of $819,438 in total compensation.

In 2005, he received $603,846 in salary and a whopping $1,346,444 in contributions to his employee benefit plans, for a total of $1,950,290 in total compensation.

According to that years 990 the hospital gave the following explanation.

"For this period, the benefits for Lowell C. Cruse include the cumulative effect of a change in the supplemental executive retirement plan."

Sounded like a onetime deal.

Well we just got their 2006 990, and Lowell's total compensation once again includes include the cumulative effect of a change in the supplemental executive retirement plan".

In 2006, he received $863,077 in salary and $649,248 in contributions to employee benefit plans, for a total of $1,512,325 in total compensation.

Less than 2005, but $629,887 more than he received just two years earlier.