Still good through growing pains - Director Health Catalyst Employee Review

4.0
18 Jun 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The leadership at the top have pure intentions. I have enormous respect for Dan, the CEO, he is one of the most sincere business leaders I've ever come across. Transparency is stressed across the company, which is refreshing, even if not always achieved. The mission of the company is one that any person can feel good about contributing to, and I would say in large part the work that happens really matters. It makes differences in millions of people's lives whether they've heard of Health Catalyst or not. The culture in large part is still a positive one, with emphasis on learning, delivering value, and personal growth.

Cons

Some of the ideals held by leadership don't make it down into the entire organization. In my story in particular, it's very hard to move to another job function that I'd likely have more of an impact in. I've personally been passed over in a job change because of reasons other than merit (seniority), outside hires who I've found through direct feedback did not interview better than myself (leadership stresses promotion from within), or just simply not being 'qualified'. It did not used to be this way - Health Catalyst had more talented people as a percentage than any company I worked for previously, and the freedom to move around and be valuable was only limited by your desire, since presumably you were already intelligent and driven enough to be hired. Something has changed. Compensation has been slowly eroding since going public, likely due to the preeminent goal of becoming profitable. Raises have been on pause for a couple years, 401k matching has decreased, and bonuses are now in the form of stock that doesn't vest for a year or more. There used to be a mantra of keeping employees first, but that is no longer true, it's closer to how an average company treats it's employees. It used to be unimaginable for me to consider moving on from Health Catalyst, even just a few short years ago, but it's lost some of it's shine to me.

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Health Catalyst Response
4y
Thank you for sharing this review and feedback, and I appreciate the detail both as it relates to your positive experiences and also the negatives that you've experienced more recently. Thank you also for your kind words. I want to acknowledge that during the pandemic we did need to make some negative adjustments to team members' benefits, like the 401(k) match, and hold off on companywide raises, in response to the company's slower growth during the pandemic. I regret that we needed to take those actions, but was also grateful that those actions enabled us to avoid layoffs during the worst stages of the pandemic, when it would have been particularly difficult for a team member to find a new job. I'm encouraged to see the company's growth accelerating in 2021, and as this growth acceleration continues, that will enable us to share in the company's success with every team member. Likewise I acknowledge that it is hard for any company to achieve profitability, and that is certainly true for us. But we're making meaningful progress towards this important goal, and even with these constraints, we are striving to share as much compensation positives with team members as we can possible enable within these profitability constraints. I also certainly want Health Catalyst to be a place where team members feel they can move towards new opportunities in different areas of the company, with support and flexibility. I'm sorry this hasn't worked out ideally for you recently. Perhaps I can be of help -- would you be open to visiting 1:1 so I can better understand your situation and goals, and advocate and support you pursuing them, perhaps acting as a reference for you as you apply? If you're open to this, please just reach out to Jenn Howard and she'll get some 1:1 time scheduled. Also, you can always reach out to People Operations -- to Linda Llewelyn our Chief People Officer, or to Trevor Smith, our head of recruitment, to ensure you have an up-to-date view of all the positions that are currently open and posted at Health Catalyst. I hope these actions can improve your personal experience at Health Catalyst. Thank you for your 5+ years of contribution to our company -- that is significant and valuable and appreciated. Best, Dan

Explore other reviews about Health Catalyst

5.0
30 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote work, good pay, wonderful people

Cons

The company grew too big too fast and has been trying to downsize erratically

3.0
5 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great Talent & Culture: The people here are highly capable, collaborative, and committed to helping each other succeed. The partnership between onshore and offshore teams works well and is a real strength. There’s a culture of grit and stability that has helped the company navigate multiple major transitions over the years. Mission-Critical Engineering: The work involves complex data infrastructure that requires deep technical expertise. It can be demanding, but seeing these systems run successfully and support real-world operations is consistently rewarding.

Cons

Wage Compression and Retention Risk: Compensation for tenured and high-performing staff has not kept pace with the market for specialized data engineering and support leadership. In practice, tenure can feel undervalued or even penalized. This creates risk around losing institutional knowledge and operational continuity. Stagnant Career Progression: Contrary to stated expectations, strong performance ratings do not consistently translate into meaningful, market-aligned compensation growth. The process of how compensation is benchmarked lacks clarity in practice, obscuring how compensation decisions are made and what is required to advance.

5
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