Highest Paid Chief Executives in Home Health Care

While it’s fair to assume that some of the country’s biggest publicly traded home health care companies pay their chief executives well, some earn more than others.

In 2016, CEOs at HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS), Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) and Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) made the most in total compensation—a figure that includes base salary, stock awards, bonuses and non-equity incentive plans—according to the most recent annual proxy statements filed by public home health care companies and investors with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The top three highest paid executives in the home health industry also lead companies with big business elsewhere in the care continuum.

Advertisement

HealthSouth, a major player in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), increased its presence in home-based services in 2014 when it acquired Encompass Home Health and Hospice,one of the largest providers in the sector.

While it is the nation’s largest home health provider, Kindred is also a major player in the post-acute care space with its IRFs and long-term acute care hospitals. Brookdale is well-known for being a private pay senior care giant, with more than 1,100 communities nationally, but also has sizable home health holdings.

Here’s the full breakdown of the top earners:

Advertisement

Of the three highest paid executives, HealthSouth CEO Jay Grinney—who retired at the end of last year—made the most overall with a total compensation of $7,294,048 in 2016. Compensation totals for Encompass CEO April Anthony weren’t publicly available. HealthSouth will rebrand as Encompass Health Corporation on Jan. 2, 2018.

Though Grinney made the most overall, Kindred CEO Benjamin Breier had the highest salary. Breier took home a baseline of $1,045,098 in 2016.

The chief executives of Amedisys, LHC Group and Almost Family took home slightly less than the top three earners.

For reference, CEOs of home health companies currently make an average of $456,533 per year, according to the 2016-2017 Multi-Facility Corporate Compensation Report from Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS).

Many of the listed executives likely took home more than SEC filings suggest. Though publicly traded companies are required to report a “fair value” for stock awards and options, that valuation is determined on the day they’re awarded, not cashed out, according to the Wall Street Journal. Other fluctuating pay metrics, such as performance target incentives, also muddy the waters.

Written by Tim Regan

Companies featured in this article:

, , , , , , , , ,