Legislators have pulled more than $800,000 from the state budget that had been earmarked for the Health Wagon, a free clinic in Southwest Virginia whose top executive was recently compensated more than $520,000, a sum that nearly doubled over two years and places her compensation far beyond the salaries of comparable executives in wealthier regions of Virginia.
The Health Wagon has received state funding consistently since 2006, and an earlier version of this year’s budget included another allocation for it. However, state budget negotiators removed this allocation after reports surfaced that leadership, including CEO Teresa Tyson and clinical director Paula Hill-Collins, as well as other Health Wagon employees, earned outsized compensation packages in recent years.
Tyson saw her compensation increase by 53% from 2021 to 2022, bringing the total to more than $520,000, according to the most recent tax documents available. This increase was on top of a 27% increase from 2020, when she received $267,564.
With the increase in her compensation, Tyson is making two to three times more than comparable executives in more affluent regions of Virginia, where salaries typically range between $100,000 and $200,000.
Hill-Collins, the clinical director at the Health Wagon, saw a 39% increase to her compensation in 2022, when she was paid $308,725.
The Health Wagon is a free clinic that serves a half-dozen counties in Southwest Virginia and is headquartered in Wise. Within its service area, the average household income comes to about $40,600, according to data from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
The line item that was removed appropriated $402,712 from the general fund for the first year of the biennial budget cycle and $402,712 the second year, also from the general fund. The money was set aside to support a summer outreach program to low income and uninsured individuals living in Southwest Virginia, according to the 2024 budget.
According to tax documents, The Health Wagon’s revenue in 2022 totaled $9.2 million.
That year, more than half of the organization’s budget came from individuals and corporations, as indicated in the organization’s latest impact report. Unlike tax forms, impact reports are not government documents. They are crafted by nonprofits to illustrate their mission and share their stories with donors. The figures within these reports are self-reported and are not verified by independent accountants.
Other funding came from foundations, grants, in-kind donations and community outreach.
The impact report does not specify the proportion of the nonprofit’s budget derived from state funding, but the state budget has included appropriations to the Health Wagon in varying amounts for at least 17 years.
The Health Wagon first received a dedicated line item in the state budget in 2006, when Tyson became the executive director. That year, at least $50,000 was directed to the Health Wagon from the general fund.
The amount increased in 2008, when the Health Wagon received at least $100,000 in state funds for the first year of the budget cycle and $100,000 in the second year from the general fund.
Under Virginia’s two-year budget cycle, a new budget is adopted in even years. Appropriations are set for each year in the cycle but can be amended in odd years.
State funding for the Health Wagon fluctuated between $76,712 and $202,712 in the adopted budgets from 2010 to 2016.
In the 2018 regular session, at least $302,712 was allocated from the general fund to the Health Wagon for the first year of the budget and another $302,712 was distributed in the second year. However, during the 2019 General Assembly, the budget was amended, bumping up the state funds to at least $402,712 per year.
The appropriation amount remained the same in the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 budgets.
The Health Wagon receives some additional state funds through the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, which comes to approximately $160,000 a year. This sum is based on the findings of a mandatory audit that all free clinics with a revenue over $300,000 are required to undergo as a member of the VAFCC.
Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, did not respond to requests for comment. Kilgore’s district covers Scott, Lee, Wise, the City of Norton and a portion of Dickenson County.
Sen. Todd Pillion, R-Washington County, who was one of the budget negotiators, declined to comment for this article.
Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell County, provided a statement, saying he only became aware of the executive’s compensation when news articles were published in early May.
“The Health Wagon provides a much needed service in our region and their service has made a positive impact for those who do not have the financial means to access quality health care. I first became aware of the executive compensation issue when the news article was released a few days ago, and at the current moment I respectfully decline to comment on the matter until further information is gathered,” Morefield said.