Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

Overview

Mission

Feeling stressed, sad or worried? Even if you are not yet a Methodist patient, help is available through the Dennis H. Jones Living Well Network, where you can find support and resources for your behavioral health needs. The Living Well Network connects you with the services you need within the Methodist Le Bonheur system and throughout our community. Our mission is to remove the barriers that prevent you from accessing care. We can answer your questions. We can help you find a behavioral health provider who offers the specialty care you need. We can make sure your provider takes your health insurance.

What it reported doing in 2024

At methodist le bonheur healthcare (mlh), we take our mission seriously and are committed to fulfilling our social responsibility by giving back to the community in a meaningful way. Mlh has continued to be the largest provider of tenncare services in the state and our facilities serve all areas of the city and county. As a faith-based institution, providing access to healthcare for all of the community is very important to us. The five (5) facilities of methodist healthcare - memphis hospitals are licensed as one hospital. It is the third largest hospital in the country. Methodist has five major areas of focus: cardiology, cancer, neurosciences, transplant, and pediatrics. In 2024 mlh contributed more than $268 million in community benefit to memphis and the mid-south through various efforts including, charity care, medicare/tncare shortfall, medical education, and community health improvement services. Net community benefit expense is calculated using a standard approach as required for government benefit reporting. Methodist le bonheur healthcare (mlh) has served the memphis and mid-south region for more than 100 years. Our five adult hospitals are located across the city, and are part of the communities they serve. Our children's hospital is the region's only comprehensive pediatric hospital. Our physicians, nurses and other clinicians live in the communities that they serve and provide expert care inside the hospitals and preventative services in their neighborhoods. Our organization is committed to improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve, providing uncompensated care, charitable contributions to other community organizations and community outreach. We employ 250 health care professionals to address community needs as they relate to four major areas: access to services, risk reduction, child development and effective parenting and chronic illness management and prevention. Examples include programs that offer free or discounted prescription drugs, non-billed, in-home services, in-home equipment, transportation vouchers, childbirth classes and a variety of health fairs all aimed at keeping our communities healthy. Mlh has received regional and national recognition for the care it provides. Methodist adult hospitals in the memphis area, which include methodist university, methodist le bonheur germantown, methodist north and methodist south, are ranked as a top hospital in the region by u.s. News & world report. In 2024 methodist olive branch hospital in north Mississippi became a cms 5-star hospital, the only hospital in the region to be so recognized for both quality and patient experience. Le bonheur children's hospital has been named a "best children's hospital" by u.s. News & world report for eleven/11 consecutive years. Le bonheur provides outpatient services in west Tennessee, northern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas to ensure children there have access to expert pediatric care. Le bonheur is also a level 1 pediatric trauma center, and serves as the region's primary source for pediatric trauma care and trauma education for regional providers. Methodist also serves the community with diagnostic care facilities in the communities we serve and one hospice facility committed to caring for our patients at end-of-life. We are also an economic driver for the community, contributing $5 billion to the memphis-area economy. Mlh employs more than 10,600 associates and has a medical staff of more than 2,400 providers, making it the second-largest private employer in shelby county. Methodist university hospital is a primary teaching hospital for the university of Tennessee health science center and le bonheur children's serves as the primary teaching affiliate for the university, training hundreds of pediatricians and specialists each year. Our researchers are working to find new solutions to chronic disease that affects our population especially including new treatments for diabetes and asthma. We also ha

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 69% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581454711
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Memphis, TN, USA
Phone
9015160791
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Health Systems
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$439,781,743
Expenses
$280,770,572
Assets
$2,400,815,607
Liabilities
$1,495,910,221

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 28
  • Transparency & Controls: 96
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.4%; rating input score 34
  • Program expense ratio: 27.6%; rating input score 28
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.2%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.55; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 34.4% of revenue deployed · 27.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $77.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.4M · 29 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $147.7M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 48 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 38 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Ugwueke (PRESIDENT/CEO/BOARD MEMBER): $2,444,821 total reported compensation
  • Monica Wharton (EVP/Chief Operating Officer): $1,312,684 total reported compensation
  • Charles Lane (SVP/Chief Financial Officer): $1,138,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024.