American College of Surgeons

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362192800
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Chicago, IL, US
Phone
312-202-5338
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$177,470,920
Expenses
$142,549,416
Assets
$773,004,565
Liabilities
$181,941,749

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

Leadership & pay

45 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BETH H SUTTON (ACS PRESIDENT (AS OF 10/24))
  • HENRI R FORD (ACS PRESIDENT (THRU 10/24))
  • PATRICIA L TURNER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PATRICIA L TURNER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO): $1,450,892 total reported compensation
  • AJIT SACHDEVA (SVP, EDUCATION): $1,220,058 total reported compensation
  • CLIFFORD KO (SVP, QUALITY PROGRAMS): $1,157,512 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The American College of Surgeons is dedicated to improving the care of the surgical patient and safeguarding standards of care in an optimal and ethical practice environment. The ACS is dedicated to improving the quality of care for surgical patients, and we’re inviting you to help us do just that—improve care and outcomes. It’s challenging, it’s meaningful, and it’s rewarding. If you’re not afraid to tackle difficult challenges, seek a deeper meaning in what you do, and want to impact communities around the globe, the ACS is for you. The ACS Values At the American College of Surgeons (ACS), we take pride in the work we do in support of our mission. Inclusive Excellence at the ACS The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity.

What it reported doing in 2024

The purpose of the division of advocacy and health policy is to identify and address public policy issues affecting surgeons and their patients at both federal and state levels. The acs maintains productive relationships with policymakers to protect the role of surgeons as leaders of the care team.medicare physician payment reform: reforming the physician payment system is a top priority as surgeons face continued reductions. Following acs advocacy, a budget reconciliation package provided short-term relief, including language to increase medicare physician payments by 2.5% for 2026.global surgical packages: the acs submitted formal testimony to medpac and cms advocating against revaluing or eliminating 10- and 90-day global surgical packages without accurate data, emphasizing that arbitrary changes could result in unintended financial consequences for patients.workforce and patient access: the acs champions legislation to strengthen the surgical workforce, including the resident education deferred interest (redi) act, which allows residents to defer student loan payments without interest.emergency preparedness: a primary focus remains the reauthorization of the pandemic all-hazards preparedness act (pahpa), which includes the mission zero grant program that embeds military surgeons into civilian trauma systems.public health and safety: the acs leads firearm injury prevention efforts through public health research and discussions with federal offices, and advocates for the improving police care act to support "stop the bleed" initiatives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 75% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $35.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.3%; rating input score 99; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: 19.7%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.42; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 84% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $112.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.5M · 45 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $15M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 42 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.