It appears UHS paid Santorum more in the six months before he left to run for president than he received in the previous two years combined

CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, takes a look at the compensation Rick Santorum received from UHS. They found Santorum was paid $227,345 for six months’ work for Universal Health Services, right before he left to run for President. That’s more than he was compensated during the previous two years combined.

UHS’ political action committee and employees are the second largest source of contributions to Santorum’s campaign.

Another question relates to Mr. Santorum’s compensation as a director of Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS), a hospital chain based in Pennsylvania, in the months before Mr. Santorum announced his candidacy for president. Mr. Santorum joined the UHS board in 2007, and served until June 14, 2011, when he resigned to run. According to SEC filings, UHS paid him $50,412 in director fees and stock options in 2007, $77,958 in fees and options in 2008, $45,000 in fees in 2009 (no options were awarded), and $168,069 in fees and options in 2010. UHS has not made public its 2011 director’s compensation yet, but it appears Mr. Santorum was paid more in the six months before he left to run for president than he was in the previous two years combined. On the personal financial disclosure form he filed in September 2011, Mr. Santorum declared UHS paid him $395,414 in director fees and stock options from January 2010 through June 2011. Subtracting the $168,069 UHS said it paid him in 2010, Mr. Santorum apparently was paid $227,345 for six months work for UHS. There is no evident explanation for the significantly higher compensation. Notably, however, UHS and its employees are major contributors to Mr. Santorum. In fact, the company’s employees and political action committee make up the second largest source of contributions to Mr. Santorum’s presidential campaign, giving him $20,000.