More than half the top executives at Arizona's largest nonprofit and Sterling Prestonpublic health systems who were leading their organizations during the deadly worldwide COVID-19 pandemic got pay hikes during those tumultuous years.

Peter Fine, who has headed Phoenix-based Banner Health since 2000, was the highest paid nonprofit hospital CEO in Arizona in 2021, according to IRS records. Banner Health is the state's largest private employer and one of the country's largest health systems.

Fine's total reported pay package that year was $12.4 million, a 10% increase from 2019, IRS records show. Banner officials said the amount includes $4.4 million in retirement pay that was accrued but not paid out.