Avera St Luke's

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460224598
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Aberdeen, SD, USA
Phone
6056225272
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Hospital, General

Reported finances

Revenue
$194,354,799
Expenses
$199,456,468
Assets
$153,239,673
Liabilities
$78,495,274

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Daniel Bjerknes (President/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brandon Fites MD Sports (Medicine, Surgery & Orthopedics): $2,093,914 total reported compensation
  • Susheel Gundewar MD (Cardiology): $2,052,131 total reported compensation
  • David Ring MD Hyperbaric (Treatment & General Surgery): $1,435,272 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Avera is a health ministry rooted in the Gospel. Our mission is to make a positive impact in the lives and health of persons and communities by providing quality services guided by Christian values.

What it reported doing in 2024

Avera St. Luke's mission is to provide healthcare services to Aberdeen, South Dakota residents and residents of the surrounding area. Avera St. Luke's is a 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with Avera Health. Avera St. Luke's consists of 50 acute beds, 10 inpatient behavioral health beds, an 81-bed nursing home in Aberdeen, SD, a 56-bed nursing home in Eureka, SD, a 2-bed surgical center in Aberdeen, SD, and 17 physician clinics. The physician clinics include primary care, ob/gyn, pediatrics, orthopedics, general surgery, radiation, radiology, oncology, therapy, urology, hematology, psychiatry, pulmonology, nephrology, podiatry, ear nose and throat, pain management, and cardiology. Avera St. Luke's provides acute care and long-term healthcare services. Avera St. Luke's Hospital 3,373 Acute patient discharges 340 Newborn patient discharges 42 Swing bed patient discharges 151,586 Outpatient visits 424 Swing-bed patient days 580 Newborn patient days 144,497 Clinic visits 46,871 Nursing home resident days 109 Long Term Care patient dischargesAvera St. Luke's maintains records to identify and monitor the level of charity care it provides. These records include the amount of charges forgone for services and supplies furnished under its charity care policy and equivalent service statistics. The amount of charges foregone, based on established rates, were $5,833,168.Avera St. Luke's also provides community benefit health activities at less than or at no cost to support those in the area served, see Schedule H. As a member of the Avera Health Network, Avera St. Luke's upholds the vision of the Presentation and Benedictine Sisters to work through collaboration to provide quality, effective health ministry and to improve the healthcare of individuals and our communities through a regionally integrated network of persons and institutions. Avera St. Luke's engages in activities designed to improve the health of individuals and communities in response to a calling to heal the sick, the elderly, and the oppressed.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 97% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 94
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.8%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $196.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 69.2%; rating input score 69; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -2.6%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.77; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.8% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $183.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.1M · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $28.6M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 32 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.