UMC El Paso CEO Jacob Cintron to collect nearly $1.5 million after pay raise, bonus
by Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, El Paso Matters
December 18, 2025
Jacob Cintron, CEO of University Medical Center of El Paso, received a 14% pay raise this week, increasing his salary to $1,128,582. Cintron’s new compensation is retroactive to Oct. 1, the start of the 2026 fiscal year.
The hospital’s seven-member board of managers voted 6-0 to approve his salary at its public meeting Tuesday, with one member abstaining. The board also approved a bonus of $346,449 based on Cintron’s recent job evaluation, a significant leap from last year’s bonus, as well as the performance metrics for 2025.
El Paso Matters filed a public records request for Cintron’s job evaluation and new performance metrics, but did not receive the documents by the time of publication.
Cintron did not immediately respond to El Paso Matters’ request for comment.
UMC board Chair Kristina Mena said the board “undertakes a fact-based evaluation that includes independent market analysis and a comprehensive review of performance metrics” every year.
“This year, the data show that Mr. Cintron continues to perform at a level that strengthens our entire Hospital District and healthcare system for the region,” Mena wrote in an emailed statement. “The compensation adjustment we approved reflects both his achievements and the need to ensure our organization remains competitive in attracting and retaining top-tier executive talent."
The board has gradually increased Cintron’s pay raise in recent years with a 7% bump in 2024 to a 12.8% increase this previous fiscal year. Cintron began leading the county hospital district in 2016.
For comparison, Dr. Frederick Cerise, CEO of Dallas County’s public health system Parkland Health, received a base pay of about $1.02 million in fiscal year 2024, according to the latest available tax filing. Dr. Karen Duncan, CEO of Tarrant County’s public hospital system JRS Health Network, received a $950,000 annual salary offer from the board of managers in 2023.
Consideration for CEO compensation
UMC is El Paso’s only public, nonprofit hospital. The hospital district oversees a 2026 expense budget of $1.9 billion – about $200 million more than the previous fiscal year in large part to pay for new and expanding facilities and about 140 additional full-time employees.
Cintron’s rising salary tracks with the rise of CEO salaries at other public and nonprofit hospitals.
READ MORE: How much does El Paso Children’s Hospital CEO Cindy Stout make?
From 2012 to 2019, the mean salaries for CEOs of nonprofit hospitals and health care systems grew 30% with inflation adjusted, while the mean wages for health care workers grew by only 5.4%, according to a recent report from Rice University.
In 2023, UMC raised its minimum hiring wage from $14 to $15.
Rice University researchers looked at the link between quality of care and higher pay among nonprofit hospital CEOs. The study found better quality care was associated with higher CEO compensation, but that the association was weaker in 2019 than it was in 2012.
A statement provided through UMC spokesperson EstefanĂa Morgan listed several items the board took into consideration for Cintron’s compensation.
This year, the hospital district opened its first urgent care clinic, located near Horizon City. It also added services to its satellite locations, including anemia and orthopedic treatment at the Northeast clinic, and neurosurgery at the Eastside clinic.
The board credited Cintron’s leadership for the successful passage of the multimillion dollar UMC bond, which voters approved in November 2024. The bond will expand health care services throughout the county, upgrade the main hospital, form a new burn center and contribute to the upcoming cancer center.
The hospital district brought in $1.8 billion in revenue, a 29% increase over last year. The district also saw a 12% increase in outpatient visits and 11% increase in surgeries, according to the statement.
UMC expects to bring in $175 million in taxpayer dollars this fiscal year, which is about 10% of the hospital’s projected revenue. Patient service fees – about $874 million – make up for 46% of the hospital district’s revenue.
Who are the UMC board members?
The UMC board of managers is made up of seven, unpaid members appointed by the El Paso County Commissioners Court, which also must approve the hospital district’s annual budget but does not have a say in the CEO’s salary.
The board holds a public meeting once a month on the eighth floor of the hospital, which people can join online or in person.
During the meeting, members discuss and approve various items, including CEO reports, contracts, policy changes and appointments to related organizations, such as Emergence Health Network board of trustees. The UMC board also determines CEO performance metrics and compensation behind a closed-doors portion of the meeting.
The board members are:
- Chair Kristina Mena, dean of the El Paso Campus of UTHealth Houston School of Public Health; board member, Paso del Norte Health Foundation and El Paso Chamber of Commerce
- Vice Chair Anna Perez, retired school administrator and chair of UMC finance committee
- Secretary Linda Yee Chew, retired judge
- Miguel Fernandez, CEO of Flo Networks; board member, WestStar Bank and BorderPlex Digital Assets
- Steve DeGroat, retired owner of Lincoln Financial Advisors’ El Paso branch; board member, El Paso Children’s Hospital
- Isidro Torres, executive director of mental health nonprofit NAMI El Paso
- Christina Paz, nurse practitioner and CEO of Centro San Vicente Family Health
Paz, who was appointed to the board in late September, abstained from the vote on the CEO compensation at Tuesday’s meeting because she was not a board member for the year Cintron was evaluated.
People can view meeting agendas and instructions on how to participate in public comment on UMC’s website.
This article first appeared on El Paso Matters and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
