CHESTERFIELD 鈥 Mercy Health paid former executive Donn Sorensen almost $1 million in 2022 after his departure from the Chesterfield-based health care giant, recently released tax documents show.
This was in addition to the combined total of nearly $7 million he received over the previous two years.
Sorensen, who left Mercy in December 2021 after an internal investigation, had served as executive vice president of operations for the $8 billion tax-exempt Catholic health system, often serving as Mercy鈥檚 public face at charity and other public events.
Before Sorensen鈥檚 departure, a construction firm working for Mercy, Pitt Development Group of Springfield, Mo., said it informed Mercy that Sorensen and another Mercy executive directed it to make what it deemed a questionable payment.
Pitt Development, in a lawsuit filed in January, said Sorensen and John Farnen, Mercy鈥檚 former vice president of planning design and construction, in late 2021 tried to force the system to pay former architect Steve Warlick $65,000 in order to continue its agreement to build clinics for Mercy.
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Pitt Development, which said it was already using another architect on the Mercy clinics, alleged in its lawsuit that it then 鈥渄iscovered a disturbing connection between Sorensen and Warlick that related to business dealings, personal dealings and the sexual exploitation of women.鈥
Sorensen did not respond to a request for comment, and Warlick has denied the allegations.
Pitt Development, led by Springfield businessmen Doug Pitt and Brian Hayes, told Mercy leaders what it had found, and they launched an internal investigation, the lawsuit says. At least one woman has reached a confidential settlement with Mercy, according to court documents. The Post-Dispatch is not identifying her because of the nature of the allegations. Farnen, who has said he doesn鈥檛 remember the allegations, and Sorensen left Mercy shortly after the internal investigation.
Sorensen and Warlick over the years, and Warlick鈥檚 old firm, Bates & Associates, was a former Mercy contractor.
Sorensen had been one of Mercy鈥檚 most powerful and highest paid executives. In 2020, the nonprofit health system paid him $4.5 million in total compensation. In 2021, he was paid almost $2.5 million.
Mercy鈥檚 latest tax return filed with the IRS, recently made public, shows that it paid Sorensen $487,784 in severance in 2022. It also lists a $450,000 鈥渂onus and incentive compensation鈥 payment and retirement and deferred compensation of $18,000 for a total of about $956,000 in 2022.
Former CEO gets $8.8 million
Mercy鈥檚 recently filed tax returns also show that Mercy鈥檚 former CEO, Lynn Britton, continued to earn over seven figures in base salary even after moving into a new role as 鈥渆xecutive chairman.鈥 The hospital system鈥檚 last chairman, businessman David Pratt, was not paid.
Britton stepped down as CEO in April 2022, so the return doesn鈥檛 capture a full year of his compensation as board chair. But in all, Britton鈥檚 base compensation in 2022 was $1.76 million, up from the $1.36 million in base salary (not including bonuses and other payments) he received in 2021, when he was CEO the entire year. Mercy鈥檚 current CEO, who took over for Britton in April 2022, received base compensation of just less than $1.38 million in 2022.
Britton also received a nearly $5.2 million bonus, another $1.4 million in 鈥渙ther鈥 compensation and nearly $500,000 in deferred compensation or retirement, for a total package of $8.8 million in 2022.
Britton鈥檚 compensation as CEO is not out of line with other hospital executives in the region. And it鈥檚 not unheard of for former CEOs to be paid after they step down. BJC HealthCare鈥檚 Steven Lipstein, for instance, retired as CEO of that health system in December 2017 but was still paid $2.5 million in 2018.
Mercy spokeswoman Bethany Pope did not respond to questions about the Sorensen payout or how much Britton was being paid as board chair but said the system has 鈥渁 strong governance process in place to review all compensation.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檙e confident our process attracts and retains the best caregivers and leaders to be a critical part of one of the largest and most complex health systems in the country,鈥 she said in a statement.