Blog: Think a $500K salary for Planned Parenthood's CEO is a ton of dough? Think again

When she testified before Congress on Tuesday, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards took heat for her six-figure salary.

"You make a ton of dough," said Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) during a hearing called by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

But a look at the money earned in 2013 by CEOs of other not-for-profit healthcare organizations shows that Richards is in the middle of the pack.

Planned Parenthood's revenue that year was $139 million.

Of 38 organizations with revenue within $10 million of Planned Parenthood's, Richards' pay of $524,000 ranked 19th, according to Modern Healthcare's Not-for-profit Executive Compensation Database.

This put her in the 53rd percentile of this group of CEOs.

The group's highest-paid CEO, who runs an organization with less revenue than Planned Parenthood, pulled down $1 million.

The lowest-paid made $159,000.

Remove the $10 million lower limit and include all not-for-profit healthcare institutions making at least what Planned Parenthood makes, and 292 of 1,423 CEOs earn more than Richards.

One CEO who led a New York state not-for-profit group practice earned $20 million in total compensation.

Now THAT'S a lot of dough.

Modern Healthcare's Not-for-profit Executive Compensation Database, available to premium subscribers, is derived from IRS Form 990s provided by Guidestar.org.

Correction, Oct. 2, 2015:

An earlier version of the chart listed Michael S. Eesley, CEO of Centegra Health System, as the highest earning CEO. Centegra should not have been listed because its revenue is above the range examined in the story.