Samuel Hazen, CEO of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, saw his overall pay dip in 2022 from $20.6 million to $14.6 million.
Executive pay was determined by sampling pay from large companies including Anthem and Pfizer, and the compensation committee also considered unique factors for each executive, such as projected responsibilities and previous success.
Other key executives took a pay cut last year as well. William Rutherford, executive vice president and CFO, saw his pay drop from $7.2 million in 2021 to $5.1 million last year. Charles Hall, president of the system's national group, saw his pay drop $600,000 to $5 million last year.
The health system includes 184 hospitals and 153 surgery centers across the U.S. HCA's surgery center division partners with 3,400 physicians and treats around 700,000 patients per year.