Valley Children’s has filed its tax returns for fiscal year 2022, showing a significant increase in the hospital’s net assets as CEO Todd Suntrapak once again received a bonus of over $1 million.

The hospital also increased life insurance-based retirement plans for select executives by approximately $20 million.

Wealth rises again: Valley Children’s reported net assets of $1.77 billion for the fiscal year ending October 2022 through September 2023.

• A total of $2 billion in assets and $379 million in liabilities are affected.
• The hospital’s net assets were reported at $1.68 billion in 2021, an increase of over $88.5 million over the previous year.
• This followed a $210 million increase in net assets from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021.

Suntrapak’s lucrative compensation: The total reportable compensation of Todd Suntrapak, CEO of Valley Children’s, is reported at $2.989 million.

• Adding about $60,000 for retirement, deferred compensation and tax-free benefits, his total salary package for 2022 is $3.05 million.
• Suntrapak earned a base salary of $1.697 million, plus a bonus of $1.055 million and other compensation of $236,000.
• Valley Children’s granted Suntrapak an increase in his base salary of $18,980 beginning in fiscal year 2021.
• His bonus and other reportable compensation were lower than in previous years, contributing to his total compensation being $5.1 million for 2021 and $5.5 million for 2020. Valley Children’s said earlier this year that the hospital’s bonus payout to senior management was increased for tax purposes for 2021 to include two bonuses in one year, according to a report in The Sun.
• In total, Suntrapak received over $13.5 million in total compensation for his work as CEO from 2020 to 2022.
• The $5 million home equity loan he received in 2021 is listed again in the 2022 filing. Suntrapak used that money to buy a $6.5 million home in Carmel-by-the-Sea in early 2022.

Executive salaries: Total executive compensation was $17 million for 23 employees, about $10 million less than in 2021, considering the previous two-bonus-per-year structure the hospital had used.

• In addition to Suntrapak, five other executives received compensation packages totaling more than one million dollars.
• Beverly Hayden-Pugh, Senior Vice President and Senior Advisor of Suntrapk, received total compensation of $1.64 million, including over $540,000 in base salary, over $300,000 in bonuses, and nearly $660,000 in other reportable compensation.
• CFO Michele Waldron earned a base salary of $687,772 as part of a total package of $1.35 million.
• Hayden-Pugh Senior Vice President and Senior Advisor Natale Ponticello received total compensation of $1.27 million.
• David Christensen, senior vice president and president of Valley Children’s Medical Group, received total compensation of $1.26 million, including the highest base salary after Suntrapak of $834,988.
• Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Jane Wilson was the top earner with total compensation of $1.16 million.
• Seven executives received total packages valued at over $700,000, three more were in the $600,000 range, and another executive stayed just under the $600,000 mark.
• Clovis Mayor Lynne Ashbeck works as Senior Vice President and Chief Community Impact Officer. Her base salary was $421,891 and her total package was worth $716,000.

Valley Children’s balance sheet: Valley Children’s reported savings and temporary cash investments of $646 million and additional cash on hand of $885,000.

• The hospital also reported investments in publicly traded securities of $461 million, investments in other securities of $206 million and program-related investments of $45 million.
• Valley Children’s also continued its offshore investments. Last year, the hospital invested $102 million in Central America and the Caribbean and another $22 million in Europe.
• For fiscal year 2022, Valley Children’s reported investments of $137 million in Central America and the Caribbean and $23 million in Europe.

Advantages of life insurance: Valley Children’s continued to maintain its multimillion-dollar life insurance policies for some of the top executives on the list and added three more to the list as of 2021.

• Suntrapak has life insurance valued at over $11.1 million.
• Waldron is close behind with a policy valued at over $9.7 million. That’s $1 million more than the policy is worth in 2021.
• Christensen’s policy remained at $5.28 million, along with $5.498 million for Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Michael Goldring.
• The hospital’s general counsel, William Chaltraw, who received a total compensation package worth more than $700,000, retained his life insurance policy worth more than $2.1 million.
• The 2022 tax returns also list an additional policy for Chaltraw in the amount of $3.1 million.
• The three executives enrolled in the hospital’s life insurance plan in 2022 were COO Danielle Barry, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer Kelly Beall and Vice President of Patient Care Vickey Tilton.
• Barry’s policy is worth over $5 million, Beall’s policy is worth over $5.6 million, and Tilton’s policy is worth nearly $4.5 million.
• Valley Children’s reported that over $58 million for 2022 was tied up between the life insurance policies and the forgiven home equity loan it made to Suntrapak in 2021.
• The hospital stated in its tax return that it had fully financed the bonuses during implementation.
• A Valley Children’s spokesperson told The Sun that the plans are life insurance-based retirement plans with long vesting periods.
• Executives receive a tax-free pension payout upon retirement, making the plan a retention bonus.
• When the executives retire, the hospital will get back all of the initial investment, interest and excess revenue. The hospital estimated in September 2023, at the end of its fiscal year, that the money returned to Valley Children’s will be over $78.9 million.
• If a covered executive dies before retirement, the hospital is repaid the investment and accrued earnings. Any remaining surplus proceeds are donated to the hospital.