Atrium Health execs receive big pay boosts
Amid record revenues, the health system says its compensation is designed 'to attract and retain the best talent'
The following article appeared in the May 14, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and origidnal local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Atrium Health boosts executive pay by 41% on average amid record revenues; Woods’ pay not disclosed
Atrium Health's top executives received big pay raises in 2023 as revenues soared. (Photo by Atrium Health)
by Michelle Crouch
Co-published with N.C. Health News
The total compensation of Atrium Health’s top executives soared by an average of 41% last year, according to newly released data from the hospital system, but information about the salary of Eugene Woods, CEO of Atrium parent Advocate Health, was not included in the release.
The executive compensation report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, which does business as Atrium Health, shows double-digit percentage raises across much of Atrium’s senior leadership, with the compensation of several executives jumping by more than 50%.
The four highest-paid executives were:
Ken Haynes, president of Advocate Health’s southeast region, received $5.07 million in 2024, up 56.6% from $3.24 million in 2023.
Scott Rissmiller, executive vice president and chief physician executive, had compensation of $4.03 million, up 54.3%.
Brett Denton, the system’s top legal officer, saw a 68.5% pay increase to $3.87 million.
Carol Lovin, chief integration officer and chief of staff, earned $3.6 million, up 57.4%.
Each executive’s total compensation includes their base salary, as well as bonuses, plan-based incentives and other forms of compensation.
In 2024, Atrium Health reported $12.6 billion in net operating revenue and $1.31 billion in net income, which some would call profit. Those figures — a new record for the state’s largest hospital system – do not include revenue from Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Health or hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin that joined with Atrium in 2022 to create Advocate Health.
So far in 2025, Atrium has continued to exceed its budget expectations, with net operating revenue of $3.32 billion for the first three months, according to a report presented at a Tuesday hospital authority board meeting.
Woods’ pay was disclosed in Atrium’s 2023 report, when he brought home $17.36 million — up 24% from 2022 and more than triple the $5.4 million he earned in his first full year as CEO in 2017.
In response to an inquiry from The Ledger/NC Health News, Atrium said Woods’ 2024 compensation will be reported on Advocate Health’s annual Form 990 filing. That means Woods' compensation likely won’t be public until this November.
In a statement, Atrium Health said competitive pay is essential in an increasingly complex healthcare landscape: “To attract and retain the best talent to fulfill our purpose, we offer a competitive compensation package determined by our governing board and consistent with governance best practices, which is guided by independent expert advice and national data from similar-sized organizations,” the statement said.
➡️ This is a shorter version of an article that appeared in North Carolina Health News. You can read the full version, with additional insights and listings of the pay of other executives, here.
This article is part of a partnership between The Charlotte Ledger and North Carolina Health News to produce original health care reporting.
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