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Faith questioned: Norfolk nonprofit hospital paid a doctor nearly $5 million. Is it a symptom of a flawed system? Sara Gentzler, Flatwater Free Press | Jun 10, 2026 Flatwater Free Press Health scare - Faith Health, formerly known as Faith Regional Health Services, in Norfolk had the two highest paid employees of any Nebraska-headquartered nonprofit in 2024, according to a ProPublica database. Doctors at other hospitals also appeared toward the top of the list, but none came close to the two at Faith Health. The two highest-paid nonprofit employees in the state benefit from a bonus system criticized for incentivizing more medical procedures. Nebraska's state auditor calls it inexplicable. A former health insurance CEO suggests it's excessive. A veteran doctor says it's unheard of. They're reacting to what a nonprofit hospital paid its gastroenterologist in 2024: Nearly $5 million. That same hospital, Faith Health in Norfolk, paid a plastic surgeon $3.8 million. Those sums made the doctors the two highest-paid employees of any Nebraska-headquartered nonprofit that year, according to an online database. Most of their compensation came from bonus and incentive pay, at least in part determined using a commonly used calculation that is often criticized for rewarding more procedures. hospital leaders declined interview requests and did not answer specific questions emailed to them. In a statement, Chief Operating Officer Brian Blecher said that it's challenging to recruit and retain doctors in Norfolk. Faith sets salaries based on data, and physicians can earn bonuses for hard work, like at other hospitals, Blecher said. State Auditor Mike Foley called the gastroenterologist's pay "inexplicable" - and he wasn't the only one shocked by the numbers. "They're a not-for-profit," said Steven Martin, retired CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska. "Ask yourself: Isn't that a little excessive?" 'The more you do, the more you get.' Matthew Bechtold, who has been practicing gastroenterology in Missouri for over 20 years, said the highest salary he has heard for a gastroenterologist is about $1.5 million. "I don't ever hear of $5 million in our field," Bechtold said. Faith Regional Health Services, which recently rebranded as Faith Health, paid Fadi Rzouq $4.9 million, according to the hospital's most recent tax filing. The figure doesn't include retirement and other benefits. Rzouq is now listed on staff at a clinic in Texas. His specialties include pancreatic, upper gastrointestinal and liver diseases. "Good medicine begins with trust, compassion and taking the time to truly listen to patients," he's quoted as saying. Faith's tax filing shows $3.9 million of Rzouq's pay in 2024 came from bonuses and incentives. The filing also notes that physicians' "production bonuses" were tied to relative value units - part of a system that helps the federal government and insurance companies define the worth of a physician's work. A procedure, for example, has a higher RVU than an office visit. Rzouq was listed among five Faith physicians who earned those bonuses in 2024. It's typical for a hospital to set a quota for a doctor and figure bonuses based on the surplus number of RVUs they actually tally, said Bechtold. RVU-based models can encourage a doctor to do more and more procedures. Rzouq's $5 million is indeed "well above the norm" and "significantly higher than the revenue a single gastroenterologist would be expected to generate for a hospital," said Lawrence Kim, past president of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute. He suspects Rzouq had responsibilities beyond direct patient care. Flatwater asked Faith if this was the case but did not receive a response. Rzouq's pay wasn't just exceptional in his field. It also made him the highest-paid employee at any Nebraska-headquartered nonprofit that year, according to a database of tax documents created by the nonprofit news outlet ProPublica. Tristan Hartzell, a board-certified Faith Health plastic surgeon specializing in the arm, was the state's second-highest-paid nonprofit employee. The hospital reported paying him $3.8 million, including about $2.8 million in bonuses. He was also among the handful listed as receiving a "production bonus." Hartzell said in an email that he's a "highly specialized surgeon" who performs "complex procedures for patients from across Nebraska and around the country." His biography says that he is "likely the busiest replantation surgeon in the upper Midwest," and one of a few in the country who perform a specific reconstructive wrist procedure. He also specializes in treating athletes, according to his bio. Three other Faith doctors made over $1 million in 2024, and other doctors from Faith and elsewhere were among the state's highest-paid nonprofit employees, according to ProPublica. But Rzouq and Hartzell were the only physicians to land ahead of Greg McDermott, then Creighton University's men's basketball coach, and James Linder, then CEO of the Nebraska Medical Center. 'This is what I did' Ed Nierodzik, Rzouq's former patient, said he got little facetime with the doctor himself. Thinking of his experience with Rzouq still brings up strong emotions. He'd been bleeding for a week and entered Faith through its emergency room. He stayed in the hospital a week, he said, but saw Rzouq for just a few minutes when he did rounds. Rzouq stopped the bleeding, Nierodzik said. But he also banded a hemorrhoid, he said, which wasn't discussed beforehand and hadn't presented issues. Chronic issues came up after that, making it more difficult for Nierodzik to do things like go to his son's wrestling tournaments and visit the supermarket. After a year and a half of physical therapy, he said he has finally seen improvement. When a reporter ran basic information about the procedure by Bechtold, the Missouri gastroenterologist, he said the account didn't immediately raise alarm. In another case, the hospital settled a lawsuit in 2021 that alleged Rzouq didn't do what he should have to manage the care of a 67-year-old man who later died. The lawsuit alleged that Rzouq didn't take action to manage the man's risk for inflammation of his pancreas after performing a procedure and that he failed to give orders for treatment or communicate appropriately with the man and his family as symptoms arose and quickly worsened. Rzouq and the hospital denied the allegations, saying in court filings that the doctor was not negligent and that Rzouq met the standard of care. According to court documents, payment of the settlement shouldn't be interpreted as an admission of liability. "Dr. Rzouq affirmatively alleges that the medical records speak for themselves," a court document reads. In another motion, he's quoted as saying in a deposition that this was the only patient with pancreatitis he had lost in over 10 years. 'An unethical incentive' Faith, the Nebraska hospital Association and the AGA all pointed to a fundamental truth that underlies doctors' salaries: It's hard to attract physicians to rural areas. "In such areas, hospitals may offer significantly higher compensation than average," said Kim with the AGA Institute. "This is based upon the physician's total value to the health system, in order to attract good candidates." Other nonprofit hospitals in mostly rural areas of Nebraska paid some physicians in the millions in 2024, though none came close to Faith. Mary Lanning Healthcare paid a Hastings orthopedic surgeon about $1.9 million, according to its filing. A spokesperson said the surgeon also practiced sports medicine as the sole provider at a practice that had previously spread services among three doctors. Great Plains Regional Health in North Platte reported paying a neurosurgeon about $2 million. Regional West Physicians Clinic in Scottsbluff paid a neurosurgeon about $1.7 million. The strikingly high salaries in Norfolk raised questions for State Auditor Foley and others. "If you're filing a public tax return," Foley said, "seems like you could talk about: Why is that number so high?" Martin, the former health insurance executive, said that the situation in Norfolk is indicative of larger issues with the healthcare system that ultimately impact individual patients. One is that a small percentage of specialists account for much of the whole system's waste and excess care, he said, driving up premiums. Another is that a hospital can create incentives that enable those specialists. "In my opinion, that's an unethical incentive," Martin said. "If you applied that to another industry, you would find that's an unethical practice." The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska's first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.

Outstanding Nebraska Teacher Award: BCBSNE honors five educators for their impact on students. Five Nebraska educators were recognized with the Outstanding Nebraska Teacher Award as part of the Touchdown for Teachers (T4T) campaign at Nebraska's Spring Football Game on Saturday, March 28. This award recognizes educators for their commitment to improving the lives of their students and community. This is the fourth year Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE) has partnered with Husker Athletics to recognize Nebraska's teachers by encouraging community members to nominate the teachers in their community making an impact. In total, T4T received over 700 nominations from across the state for 2026. This year's Outstanding Nebraska Teacher Award recipients include: * Shawn Carlson - South Sioux City High School * Theresa Sampson - Wisner-Pilger Public Schools * Megan Euler - Culler Middle School, Lincoln Public Schools * Sara Forsgren - Fairbury Public Schools * Dale Ritter - Alma Public Schools Representatives from BCBSNE and Husker Athletics surprised each of Nebraska's outstanding teachers with a special visit or a video message, followed by an award ceremony with their students to announce they had won the award. Each educator received a football signed by Huskers Head Coach Matt Rhule, a prize bag and tickets to the Spring Game. "Teachers are the backbone of Nebraska's future, and they give so much of themselves to their students," said Cortney Ray, director of strategic accounts at BCBSNE. "We're thrilled to recognize these standout educators and the meaningful work they champion every day." Recipients were honored on Tom Osborne Field at Memorial Stadium during the Huskers Spring Game.

BCBSNE names Dr. Amy Helwig as chief medical officer. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE) has appointed Dr. Amy Helwig as the company's chief medical officer (CMO). As CMO, Dr. Helwig leads BCBSNE's clinical and pharmacy initiatives, including strategic oversight of the company's medical policies and medical review processes. "BCBSNE is so fortunate to have Dr. Helwig on our team," said Gretchen Twohig, executive vice president of patient outcomes and provider partnerships. "She brings with her a wealth of experience, as well as a passion for quality improvement. She will play a key role in helping us fulfill our mission to champion the health and well-being of our members and the communities we serve, while driving improved health care system experiences for patients, providers and payers." Dr. Helwig brings a wealth of experience to her role as BCBSNE's new CMO. Most recently, she was chief quality and population health officer for Commonwealth Care Alliance in Boston. Prior to that, her leadership roles include executive vice president of RTI International's commercial health payer-provider division; chief quality officer of Quality Improvement and Performance for UPMC Health Plan in Pittsburgh; deputy director for quality Improvement and patient safety with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington DC; and chief medical officer for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Dr. Helwig earned her medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin, is board-certified in family medicine and is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. In addition, she earned a master's degree in medical informatics from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Executive Development Program.