Vanderbilt University Medical Center CEO salary and executive pay
Vanderbilt University Medical Center paid its CEO, Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD, $16,481,139 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is up $7,338,032 (80.3%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. Total revenue on that return was $8,674,383,028, up 12.6% from $7,706,035,528 for the fiscal year ending June 2024. Vanderbilt University Medical Center ranks 5th of 229 hospital systems on this site by CEO pay. Vanderbilt University Medical Center has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 35-2528741, Nashville, TN.
CEO, fiscal year ending June 2025
$16,481,139
Also listed with a chief executive title on this filing: Margaret G Rush MD MMHC (Pres & Exec Med Dir, MCJCH), $2,074,741; Lee Ann Liska MBA (Pres & Chief Oper Off at VUH), $1,686,132.
- Total revenue
- $8,674,383,028
- CEO pay vs. peers
- Higher than 67%
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202621279349301822.View the filing
Peers: the 183 other hospital systems on this site. Ranked 61st of 184 by top pay as a share of revenue. Pay is 0.19% of revenue, our calculation from the same return. Revenue is Part I, line 12; peers are compared on their latest full-year returns.
Highest-paid people on the latest return
On the latest return, 25 people were paid more than $500,000, 20 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD CEO President and CEO | $16,481,139 |
| C Wright Pinson MD MBADeputy CEO & Chief Health System Officer | $6,637,915 |
| John F Manning Jr PHD MBACOO and Corporate Chief of Staff | $5,553,898 |
| Cecelia B Moore MHA CPA CHFPCFO and Treasurer | $4,367,104 |
| Michael J Regier JDFormer General Counsel and Secretary | $3,252,689 |
Also paid on the latest return: Jennifer A Pietenpol PHD (Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer), $2,451,479; Rick Wright MD (CMO and Sr VP for Clinical Affairs), $2,190,236; Margaret G Rush MD MMHC (Pres & Exec Med Dir, MCJCH), $2,074,741; Ginger Holt MD (Professor, Ortho-Oncology), $2,048,363; Byron Stephens II MD MSCI (Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery), $1,933,415; Zeena M Abdulahad MPA (EVP & Chief Dev Officer), $1,816,593; Seth J Karp MD (Professor of Surgery, Biomedical Ethics & Society, and Anesthesiology), $1,797,157; Amir Abtahi MD (Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery), $1,761,416; Amy Schoeny PHD (Chief HR Officer), $1,750,269; Ashish S Shah MD FACS (Professor, Cardiac), $1,729,509; Lee Ann Liska MBA (Pres & Chief Oper Off at VUH), $1,686,132; Donald Brady MD (Exec Vice Dean - Aca Affairs & Exec VP - Ed Affairs), $1,444,930; Wendy Monaci MBA (EVP Adult Ambulatory), $1,327,344; Shon Dwyer MBA RN (Former President, Vanderbilt Adult Hospital), $1,230,612; Cecelia Theobald MD MPH (Chief of Clinical Staff), $1,044,446; and 8 more.
Also listed in Part VII of the latest return, with no pay reported: Alexander C Taylor (Director), Colin V Reed (Director), Daniel Diermeier PHD (Director), Edith Scott Carell Johnson JD (Director, Chair of Board of Dirs & Exec Comm), Gail Carr Williams JD (Director), John F Stein MBA (Director, Vice Chair of Board of Dirs & Chair of Audit & Compl Comm), John R Ingram MBA (Director), Lucinda M Baier CPA (Director, Chair of Quality & Safety Com), Makeba Boatwright Williams MD (Director), Sara J Finley JD (Director, Chair of Mgmt Dev & Comp Comm).
CEO pay by year
Each row is the CEO on that year's return.
| Fiscal year ending | Name and title | Total | Revenue | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2025 | Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD CEO President and CEO | $16,481,139 | $8,674,383,028 | Filing |
| Jun 2024 | Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD CEO President and CEO | $9,143,107 | $7,706,035,528 | Filing |
| Jun 2023 | Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD CEO President and CEO | $6,927,547 | $6,921,172,886 | Filing |
| Jun 2022 | Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD CEO President and CEO | $6,787,910 | $6,413,300,115 | Filing |
How this pay was reported
The parts of each total, as reported on the return for the fiscal year ending June 2025.
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202621279349301822.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| Jeffrey R Balser MD PHDPresident and CEO | $14,688,567 | $1,792,572 | $3,195,029 | $5,420,267 | $6,073,271 | $1,768,469 | $24,103 | $16,481,139 |
| C Wright Pinson MD MBADeputy CEO & Chief Health System Officer | $5,621,867 | $1,016,048 | $2,518,198 | $3,064,319 | $39,350 | $990,311 | $25,737 | $6,637,915 |
| John F Manning Jr PHD MBACOO and Corporate Chief of Staff | $5,018,633 | $535,265 | $1,372,188 | $1,968,833 | $1,677,612 | $493,843 | $41,422 | $5,553,898 |
| Cecelia B Moore MHA CPA CHFPCFO and Treasurer | $3,892,160 | $474,944 | $1,429,853 | $2,081,525 | $380,782 | $450,260 | $24,684 | $4,367,104 |
| Michael J Regier JD*Former General Counsel and Secretary | $3,018,841 | $233,848 | $546,173 | $1,211,149 | $1,261,519 | $209,141 | $24,707 | $3,252,689 |
These figures come from Vanderbilt University Medical Center'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 Vanderbilt University Medical Center compares
Ranked 5th of 229 hospital systems by CEO pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 4th, Montefiore Health System, $16,690,037
- Next in this ranking: 6th, CHRISTUS Health, $14,656,684
Closest in revenue among the hospital systems on this site:
Stanford Health Care$5,385,633 (CEO), fiscal year ending Aug 2025
Memorial Hermann Health System$6,061,094 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Hackensack Meridian Health$13,541,590 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
Northside Hospital$5,944,335 (CEO), fiscal year ending Sep 2025
Cleveland Clinic$9,709,152 (CEO), fiscal year ending Dec 2024
Common questions
Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD (President and CEO) was paid $16,481,139 for the fiscal year ending June 2025: $14,688,567 from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and $1,792,572 in other compensation (Part VII columns D and F).
The CEO, Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD, was the highest-paid person on the latest return, at $16,481,139.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center paid its CEO, Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD, $16,481,139 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is up $7,338,032 (80.3%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending June 2022, when the CEO was Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD, paid $6,787,910. By fiscal year end: June 2022, $6,787,910 (Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD); June 2023, $6,927,547; June 2024, $9,143,107; June 2025, $16,481,139.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center's return for the fiscal year ending June 2025 reports total expenses of $8,258,963,378 and total revenue of $8,674,383,028 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so revenue exceeded expenses by $415,419,650. Expenses were $7,435,766,434 for the fiscal year ending June 2024, so they rose 11.1%. The CEO's pay of $16,481,139 equals 0.20% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns Vanderbilt University Medical Center filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. The latest full-year return was filed on May 7, 2026. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending June 2025 return breaks down pay for all 5 people in the pay breakdown above.