Hospice & Community Care

Legal name: Choices Healthcare

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232122735
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lancaster, PA, US
Phone
(877) 506-0149
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Hospices

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$56,317,965
Expenses
$58,347,544
Assets
$89,097,180
Liabilities
$6,209,340

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVEN M KNAUB (CEO)
  • KRISTA KAE HAZEN (SR VICE PRESIDENT/CFO)
  • BRENT KEENER (VICE PRESIDENT, HR)
  • GILBERT BROWN (PRESIDENT)
  • SUSAN RESAVY (VICE PRESIDENT OF FAMILY SERVICES)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEVEN M KNAUB (CEO): $454,191 total reported compensation
  • DEBRA VERMETTE (VP CMO): $356,736 total reported compensation
  • KRISTA KAE HAZEN (SR VICE PRESIDENT/CFO): $321,292 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 provide personalized, compassionate care and support for patients and families coping with serious illness through the end of life.

What it reported doing in 2024

Choices healthcare provides personalized, compassionate care and support for patients and families coping with serious illness through the end of life. During the current year, choices healthcare provided over 228,000 patient days of hospice care to patients and their families and served 4,780 hospice patients during the year, regardless of the patient's ability to pay. Four percent of the patient days of hospice care were charitable care. Our highly trained interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, hospice aides, chaplains, volunteers, music therapists and massage therapists provide visits and support to hospice and palliative patients in private homes, nursing homes, hospitals, hospice inpatient center and hospice residence. The bereavement programs supported 12,877 bereaved individuals during the current year through support groups, telephone calls and visits.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 81% 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.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.1%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: -3.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 93.1% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $51.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $454K · 42 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.