Ascension

Legal name: Ascension Health

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311662309
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
St. Louis, MO, US
Phone
314-733-8000
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Health Systems
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$383,050,950
Expenses
$236,643,673
Assets
$2,170,412,412
Liabilities
$593,915,462

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSEPH R IMPICCICHE JD MHA (CHAIR & CEO)
  • EDUARDO F CONRADO (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSEPH R IMPICCICHE JD MHA (CHAIR & CEO): $14,086,474 total reported compensation
  • EDUARDO F CONRADO (PRESIDENT): $10,919,629 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTINE K MCCOY JD (SECRETARY): $5,287,112 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus as healer, we commit ourselves to serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Our Catholic health ministry is dedicated to spiritually centered, holistic care that sustains and improves the health of individuals and communities. We are an innovative, inclusive, and compassionate organization dedicated to the sacredness of all life.

What it reported doing in 2024

The filing organization is a part of the ascension catholic health ministry. Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization that delivers personalized, compassionate care to all, especially to those who need it the most. Ascension health is a mission-focused organization transforming health care by providing the highest quality care to all, with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. In fiscal year 2025, the ascension health system employed 99,000 associates serving in 1,924 locations in 16 states and the district of columbia. However, in comparison to many other organizations of similar scope and complexity, as a nonprofit, spiritually-centered healthcare system, ascension differentiates itself in terms of mission, priority and challenges. In fiscal year 2025 alone, ascension provided $1.7 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Furthermore, financial assistance and community benefit totaled more than $3.5 billion with the inclusion of $1.8 billion of unpaid costs of medicare.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 83% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 28
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.2%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 38.2%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.17; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -16.4% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 9 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 72.2% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $194.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $14.1M · 11 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $40.6M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 390 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.