Benefis Health System
Legal name: Benefis Hospitals Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 810232122
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Great Falls, Montana, US
- Phone
- 406-455-5000
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Hospital, General
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $626,298,828
- Expenses
- $647,147,579
- Assets
- $961,989,983
- Liabilities
- $660,626,392
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- GREGORY TIERNEY MD (DIRECTOR & EVP SYSTEM CLINICAL OPS): $1,441,865 total reported compensation
- FORREST EHLINGER (CRO & EVP (THRU 9/24)): $1,120,999 total reported compensation
- RAYN GINNATY (DIRECTOR/PRES. OF HOSPITALS & SENIOR SERVICES): $569,676 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To improve the health of the people and communities we serve.
What it reported doing in 2024
Benefis hospitals, inc. Operates a 569 licensed bed, two-campus facility providing acute care, rehabilitation services, and psychiatric health services to the public regardless of ability to pay. The organization provides outpatient medical and surgical services to the public regardless of ability to pay. The organization provides long term care services. The hospital also provides primary care to great falls and the surrounding region through a family practice department. The family practice department sees patients of all ages, from newborn to the elderly. Also provides specialty care to great falls and the surrounding region through our internal medicine and specialty care departments. These departments include internal medicine, neurology, neurosciences, obstetrics, gynecology and infertility, pain management, pediatrics, plastics and reconstructive surgery, pulmonary and critical care medicine, rheumatology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, urology, wound care, anesthesiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, heart and vascular, sports medicine, spine and general surgery, med spa and vein center. Benefis also provides hospice and senior care services to the public regardless of ability to pay.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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 a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 66
- Accountability: 68
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.2%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 75.8%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 8th 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: 87%; rating input score 87; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 45.5%; rating input score 45; 12th 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: -3.3%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.49; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.69; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -5.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 6 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 78.2% of revenue deployed · 75.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $490.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.4M · 20 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $115.1M reported
- Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 14 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 45/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.