Big Sur Health Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770077112
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Big Sur, CA, USA
Phone
8316672580
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,393,755
Expenses
$1,333,939
Assets
$1,400,392
Liabilities
$44,050

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Derric Oliver (President)
  • Michael Linder (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kathie Lester (Executive Dir.): $200,580 total reported compensation
  • Sharen Carey (Former E.D.): $105,082 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Big Sur Health Center exists to serve the health and wellness needs of the Big Sur community by providing quality healthcare through traditional and complementary approaches that are culturally sensitive and center on patient needs.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Big Sur Health Center serves residential and tourist patients in a rural area 26 miles (1 hour drive) from the nearest hospital or medical care. We are open 5 days a week with 2,353 patient visits in 2025. The Health Center plays a vital role in the community by providing both preventative and urgent care, minor surgical procedures, and basic laboratory and pharmaceutical services. During emergencies such as fires, storms, and road closures that isolate Big Sur, the Health Center staff is always ready to serve the community. Because we believe that health care should be available to everyone, we accept most major insurance plans including Medicare, and participate in a variety of subsidized and sliding-scale programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • 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. 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: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.6%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 92.9%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $63.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.3%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.05; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.9%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.6% of revenue deployed · 92.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $201K · 11 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.