CoxHealth CEO salary and executive pay
CoxHealth paid its CEO, Max D Buetow, $1,977,250 for the fiscal year ending September 2025. That is up $54,319 (2.8%) from the fiscal year ending September 2024. Total revenue on that return was $394,598,058, up 22.1% from $323,117,487 for the fiscal year ending September 2024. CoxHealth ranks 177th of 229 hospital systems on this site by CEO pay. CoxHealth has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 47-1087427, Springfield, MO.
CEO, fiscal year ending September 2025
$1,977,250
Highest-paid person, fiscal year ending September 2025
$2,224,513Ibrahim AbdallaBOARD MEMBER
- Revenue on this return
- $394,598,058
- This is the system's parent filer; the system's largest single return is filed by Lester E Cox Medical Centers (EIN 44-0577118), with $1,960,936,555 in revenue on its latest return.
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending September 2025, IRS object ID 202602269349302085.View the filing
Revenue is Part I, line 12. Pay as a share of revenue and the peer comparison are not shown for a parent filer.
Highest-paid people on the latest return
On the latest return, 13 people were paid more than $500,000, 4 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| Ibrahim AbdallaBOARD MEMBER | $2,224,513 |
| Max D Buetow CEO PRESIDENT & CEO | $1,977,250 |
| Jacob M McWayEVP, COXHEALTH CFO | $1,529,586 |
| Charity ElmerEVP, GENERAL COUNSEL | $1,116,421 |
| Timothy L JonesEVP, PRESIDENT CMG | $971,095 |
Also paid on the latest return: Amanda Hedgpeth (EVP, COO), $931,265; Steve Edwards (FORMER PRESIDENT & CEO), $655,726; Cheryl Hertel (VP, CIO), $652,250; Daphne Lemon (BOARD MEMBER), $648,225; Staci Rogers (JOC CHAIR), $641,672; Howard E Jarvis (BOARD MEMBER), $553,942; Andrew Hedgpeth (VP, HR), $525,765; Nana Gaisie (BOARD MEMBER), $505,079; Susan Graves (BOARD MEMBER), $491,643; Julia Flax (BOARD MEMBER), $489,555; George P Murfee (CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER), $470,575; David Raney (VP COXHEALTH NETWORK), $451,577; David Taylor (CORPORATE VP), $404,097; Rodney Schaffer (VP, FACILITIES MANAGEMENT), $390,006; Jann Holland (VP MARKETING), $364,277; and 5 more.
Also listed in Part VII of the latest return, with no pay reported: Hal L Higdon (CHAIR), Jefferson M Tynes (2ND VICE CHAIR), Sally Hargis (1ST VICE CHAIR), Brad E Erwin (BOARD MEMBER), Brian R Jared (BOARD MEMBER), Carol Taylor (BOARD MEMBER), Charles Chuck Chalender (BOARD MEMBER), Dennis J Heim (BOARD MEMBER), James W Hutcheson (BOARD MEMBER), Jan Baumgartner (BOARD MEMBER), Joseph W Turner (BOARD MEMBER), Krystal Russell (BOARD MEMBER), Kurt Hellwig (BOARD MEMBER), Larry W Lipscomb (BOARD MEMBER), Pamela Yancey (BOARD MEMBER), Robert C Fulp (BOARD MEMBER), Robert Cox (BOARD MEMBER), Stuart Lipscomb (BOARD MEMBER), Thomas Douglas (BOARD MEMBER).
CEO pay by year
Each row is the CEO on that year's return.
| Fiscal year ending | Name and title | Total | Revenue | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | Max D Buetow CEO PRESIDENT & CEO | $1,977,250 | $394,598,058 | Filing |
| Sep 2024 | Max D Buetow CEO PRESIDENT & CEO | $1,922,931 | $323,117,487 | Filing |
| Sep 2023 | MAX BUETOW CEO PRESIDENT & CEO | $1,027,333 | $257,890,305 | Filing |
| Sep 2022 | STEVE EDWARDS CEO PRESIDENT AND CEO COXHEALTH END 05/22 | $2,297,026 | $216,888,008 | Filing |
How this pay was reported
The parts of each total, as reported on the return for the fiscal year ending September 2025.
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending September 2025, IRS object ID 202602269349302085.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Related | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| Ibrahim Abdalla*BOARD MEMBER | $0 | $2,168,466 | $56,047 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $2,140,785 | $27,681 | $0 | $38,500 | $17,547 | $2,224,513 | |||
| Max D BuetowPRESIDENT & CEO | $1,641,774 | $0 | $335,476 | $1,131,935 | $454,236 | $55,603 | $319,300 | $16,176 | $1,977,250 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Jacob M McWayEVP, COXHEALTH CFO | $1,291,822 | $0 | $237,764 | $822,771 | $245,588 | $223,463 | $217,234 | $20,530 | $1,529,586 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Charity ElmerEVP, GENERAL COUNSEL | $941,610 | $0 | $174,811 | $612,843 | $178,383 | $150,384 | $152,038 | $22,773 | $1,116,421 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Timothy L JonesEVP, PRESIDENT CMG | $841,813 | $0 | $129,282 | $599,383 | $167,625 | $74,805 | $112,511 | $16,771 | $971,095 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
These figures come from CoxHealth's Form 990 returns, as the IRS publishes them. The methodology page explains how they're chosen. To report an error, email corrections@ceopaycheck.com.
How CoxHealth compares
Ranked 177th of 229 hospital systems by CEO pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 176th, St. Joseph's Health System, $1,980,792
- Next in this ranking: 178th, CentraCare, $1,969,529
Closest in revenue among the hospital systems on this site:
Baptist Memorial Health Care$3,913,950 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
McLeod Health$2,430,056 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
Legacy Health$2,784,747 (CEO), fiscal year ending Mar 2025
MedStar Health$6,562,774 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Nicklaus Children's Health System$2,570,950 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
Common questions
Max D Buetow (PRESIDENT & CEO) was paid $1,977,250 for the fiscal year ending September 2025: $1,641,774 from CoxHealth and $335,476 in other compensation (Part VII columns D and F).
The highest-paid person on the latest return was Ibrahim Abdalla (BOARD MEMBER), at $2,224,513. That is $247,263 more than the CEO, Max D Buetow.
CoxHealth paid its CEO, Max D Buetow, $1,977,250 for the fiscal year ending September 2025. That is up $54,319 (2.8%) from the fiscal year ending September 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending September 2022, when the CEO was STEVE EDWARDS, paid $2,297,026. By fiscal year end: September 2022, $2,297,026 (STEVE EDWARDS); September 2023, $1,027,333 (MAX BUETOW); September 2024, $1,922,931; September 2025, $1,977,250.
CoxHealth's return for the fiscal year ending September 2025 reports total expenses of $394,601,063 and total revenue of $394,598,058 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so expenses exceeded revenue by $3,005. Expenses were $322,708,977 for the fiscal year ending September 2024, so they rose 22.3%. The CEO's pay of $1,977,250 equals 0.50% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns CoxHealth filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. The latest full-year return was filed on August 14, 2026. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending September 2025 return breaks down pay for all 5 people in the pay breakdown above.