Akron Children's

Legal name: Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
340714357
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Akron, OH, USA
Phone
330-543-2000
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Hospital, Specialty

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,540,288,244
Expenses
$1,353,888,762
Assets
$2,507,373,699
Liabilities
$666,993,722

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

Leadership & pay

44 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER A GESSNER (BOD/OFFICER-PRESIDENT AND CEO)
  • SHEFALI MAHESH MD (PRESIDENT OF MEDICAL STAFF/CHAIR PEDIATRICS)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTOPHER A GESSNER (BOD/OFFICER-PRESIDENT AND CEO): $1,791,308 total reported compensation
  • SHAWN LYDEN (CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER - PART YEAR): $1,693,201 total reported compensation
  • ANJAY KHANDELWAL (DIR BURN SURGERY): $1,194,136 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

While we are ranked among the best children‘s hospitals in the country, it‘s our compassionate approach to treatment that makes us truly exceptional. Through a combination of revolutionary treatments and extraordinary patient experiences, our care does more than heal. It brings the entire family together for emotional support and understanding across multiple locations to reach you in the community where you live. Learn more... []( "Facebook") []( "Instagram").

What it reported doing in 2024

Chmca is the largest pediatric healthcare system in northeast Ohio. In 2024, chmca operated two hospital campuses in northeast Ohio providing inpatient and outpatient services, emergency, urgent care, and primary and specialty care offices throughout Ohio. During 2024 chmca delivered over 1,428,000 patient visits through all of its programs.inpatient services include areas of routine care, neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, behavioral health, regional burn center, hematology/oncology, and emergency/trauma services. Outpatient services offers unique services in a broad range of pediatric subspecialties such as neonatology, behavioral health, rehabilitation services, cardiology, plastic surgery, genetics, maternal fetal medicine, urgent and quick care, adolescent medicine, palliative care, pulmonary medicine, urology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, neurology, allergy, dental, addiction services, physical and occupational therapy, and infectious disease services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.5%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 58.3%; rating input score 58; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 28th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.1%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.85; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 67.5% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.8M · 44 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $45.7M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 45 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 58/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.