Pay Gap Between Nonprofit Hospital CEOs And Employees Grew, 2009–23

Nonprofit hospital workers represent a significant portion of the US health care workforce. Previous research indicates that wage inequalities exist within nonprofit hospitals, varying by hospital characteristics. To explore whether these inequalities have grown over time, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, we used Internal Revenue Service Form 990 and Medicare cost reports from the period 2009-23 to examine trends in wages and wage inequalities within nonprofit hospitals and assess differences by hospital characteristics. Persistent and widening wage inequalities in most years were observed, except during some years of the pandemic. Because hospitals are often large employers, wage inequality within them may reflect and reinforce broader patterns of local economic inequality, making this a relevant metric for evaluating the social benefit of nonprofit hospitals.