Bridging Medicine

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237003581
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone
9164515235
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,098,236
Expenses
$902,595
Assets
$5,890,347
Liabilities
$402,007

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ADAM DOUGHERTY (PRESIDENT)
  • RODERICK VITANGCOL (PRESIDENT ELECT)
  • VANESSA J WALKER (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • AILEEN WETZEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • AILEEN WETZEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $577,040 total reported compensation
  • LINDSAY COATE (VP OF STRATEGIC OPERATIONS): $215,327 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide scholarships to deserving medical students and to further the protection to public health by the promotion of ethical and professional medical care.

What it reported doing in 2025

Established in 1995 with a grant from the robert wood johnson foundation, the sacramento physicians' initiative to reach out, innovate and teach (spirit) seeks to increase and enhance physician response to the medical needs of sacramento county's medically indigent population through volunteerism. Kaiser permanente, uc davis health system, dignity health, sutter medical center sacramento/sutter medical group, county of sacramento, and serotonin surge charities each made a cash contribution to provide the necessary coordination and support for the project.in addition, spirit received services in support of donated surgeries at kaiser, sutter ambulatory surgery centers, and mercy in the form of facility use as well as personnel support for surgical services. Spirit recruits, places, and coordinates referrals to volunteer physicians in local clinics, hospitals and offices who provide free primary, specialty and surgical care to medically indigent patients in sacramento county. With the help of spirit volunteer physicians, clinics can provide primary care services to more patients than could otherwise be seen, and patients can receive specialty and surgical services not readily available through the county clinic system. In 2025, physicians volunteered hundreds of hours, treating 110 patients for an estimated donated service value in the amount of $1.08 million.

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 97% 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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 99%; rating input score 99; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.8%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.53; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31.4%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $903K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $577K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.