Gundersen Health System CEO salary and executive pay
Gundersen Health System paid its CEO, Scott Rathgaber MD, $1,397,550 for the fiscal year ending September 2025. That is down $315,399 (18.4%) from the fiscal year ending September 2024. Total revenue on that return was $1,251,736,689, up 6.8% from $1,171,831,507 for the fiscal year ending September 2024. Gundersen Health System ranks 210th of 229 hospital systems on this site by CEO pay. Gundersen Health System has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 39-1606449, La Crosse, WI.
CEO, fiscal year ending September 2025
$1,397,550
Also listed with a chief executive title on this filing: Heather Schimmers RN (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PRESIDENT), $914,152.
Highest-paid person, fiscal year ending September 2025
$2,089,672Christine WoleskePRESIDENT, (END 7.1.25)
- Total revenue
- $1,251,736,689
- CEO pay vs. peers
- Higher than 36%
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending September 2025, IRS object ID 202612269349301111.View the filing
Peers: the 183 other hospital systems on this site. Ranked 117th of 184 by top pay as a share of revenue. Pay is 0.11% of revenue, our calculation from the same return. Revenue is Part I, line 12; peers are compared on their latest full-year returns.
The system's largest single return is filed separately by Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center (EIN 39-0813416), so the revenue shown here is this return's own, not the whole system's.
Highest-paid people on the latest return
On the latest return, 23 people were paid more than $500,000, 7 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| Christine WoleskePRESIDENT, (END 7.1.25) | $2,089,672 |
| Scott Rathgaber MD CEO BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIRMAN, CEO | $1,397,550 |
| Mark TopolskiPHYSICIAN | $1,382,418 |
| Douglas HughesPHYSICIAN | $1,294,224 |
| Steven WhitfordPHYSICIAN | $1,252,588 |
Also paid on the latest return: Jerry Davis (PHYSICIAN), $1,181,443; Jeffrey Lawrence (PHYSICIAN), $1,140,778; Heather Schimmers RN (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PRESIDENT), $914,152; Michael Dolan MD (CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER), $815,309; Praveen Chopra (CHIEF DIGITAL AND INFORMATION OFFICER), $795,647; John Ceelen (TREASURER, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER), $782,368; Leanne Andersen (CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER), $752,236; Peter Vandenhouten (SR VP LEGAL COUNSEL), $715,069; Robert Holness MD (MEDICAL VP, COMMUNITY AND CMO-CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITALS), $701,196; Daniel Lilly (SECRETARY, CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER), $692,102; Stephanie Neuman MD (MEDICAL VICE PRESIDENT, AMBULATORY SERVICES), $655,610; William Farrell (CHIEF STRATEGY & INNOVATION OFFICER), $644,065; Christine Waller MD (MEDICAL VP, ACUTE CARE AND NURSING & SYSTEMS PRACTICES), $643,888; Todd Kowalski MD (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, MEDICAL CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER), $635,175; Stephen Shapiro MD (CHIEF MEDICAL FOUNDATION OFFICER, MD), $612,450; and 23 more.
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 | Scott Rathgaber MD CEO BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIRMAN, CEO | $1,397,550 | $1,251,736,689 | Filing |
| Sep 2024 | Scott Rathgaber MD CEO BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CEO, CHAIRMAN | $1,712,949 | $1,171,831,507 | Filing |
| Sep 2023 Short year, 9 months | No officer pay reportedAll 19 people listed on this return show $0. | $0 | $866,304,960 | Filing |
| Dec 2022 | SCOTT RATHGABER MD CEO BOARD OF TRUSTEES - CEO, CHAIRMAN | $1,088,135 | $993,740,336 | 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 202612269349301111.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Related | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| Christine Woleske*PRESIDENT, (END 7.1.25) | $0 | $1,888,539 | $201,133 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $947,182 | $728,601 | $212,756 | $185,351 | $15,782 | $2,089,672 | |||
| Scott Rathgaber MDBOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIRMAN, CEO | $1,324,275 | $0 | $73,275 | $1,278,368 | $0 | $45,907 | $48,300 | $24,975 | $1,397,550 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Mark TopolskiPHYSICIAN | $1,310,243 | $0 | $72,175 | $1,305,468 | $0 | $4,775 | $48,300 | $23,875 | $1,382,418 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Douglas HughesPHYSICIAN | $1,226,944 | $0 | $67,280 | $1,222,337 | $0 | $4,607 | $43,613 | $23,667 | $1,294,224 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
| Steven WhitfordPHYSICIAN | $1,177,421 | $0 | $75,167 | $1,170,639 | $2,000 | $4,782 | $48,300 | $26,867 | $1,252,588 |
| Schedule J, from related orgs | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||
These figures come from Gundersen Health System'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 Gundersen Health System compares
Ranked 210th of 229 hospital systems by CEO pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 209th, UofL Health - Louisville, $1,506,278
- Next in this ranking: 211th, Hawai'i Pacific Health, $1,393,821
Closest in revenue among the hospital systems on this site:
CHRISTUS Health$14,656,684 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Sentara Health$6,375,042 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
Bayhealth Medical Center$1,936,220 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Stormont-Vail Healthcare$1,829,935 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida$2,535,492 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
Common questions
Scott Rathgaber MD (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIRMAN, CEO) was paid $1,397,550 for the fiscal year ending September 2025: $1,324,275 from Gundersen Health System and $73,275 in other compensation (Part VII columns D and F).
The highest-paid person on the latest return was Christine Woleske (PRESIDENT, (END 7.1.25)), at $2,089,672. That is $692,122 more than the CEO, Scott Rathgaber MD.
Gundersen Health System paid its CEO, Scott Rathgaber MD, $1,397,550 for the fiscal year ending September 2025. That is down $315,399 (18.4%) from the fiscal year ending September 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending December 2022, when the CEO was SCOTT RATHGABER MD, paid $1,088,135. By fiscal year end: December 2022, $1,088,135 (SCOTT RATHGABER MD); September 2024, $1,712,949; September 2025, $1,397,550. The 9-month return for the period ending September 2023 reports no officer pay.
Gundersen Health System's return for the fiscal year ending September 2025 reports total expenses of $1,205,954,321 and total revenue of $1,251,736,689 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so revenue exceeded expenses by $45,782,368. Expenses were $1,150,241,528 for the fiscal year ending September 2024, so they rose 4.8%. The CEO's pay of $1,397,550 equals 0.12% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns Gundersen Health System 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.