Bigger bonuses, higher executive salaries and a few eye-popping retirement payouts. That’s how St. Luke's Health System closed the books on its final year as a nonprofit independent hospital chain, according to recent tax filings. The $2.5 billion hospital system, which merged with St. Louis-based nonprofit BJC Healthcare at the start of 2024, paid one-third more in bonuses and incentives to its top-earning employees in 2023 compared to the previous year. Combined total compensation for those employees, whose salaries are included in the hospital system's 990 tax filings, was up 27%. Not surprisingly, executives at the top of the organizational chart saw the biggest paydays.
