Covenant Health Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621748601
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Knoxville, TN, USA
Phone
8653745329
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,951,026
Expenses
$2,609,005
Assets
$18,411,285
Liabilities
$639,400

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • James D VanderSteeg (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • James D VanderSteeg (President & CEO): $3,242,830 total reported compensation
  • William R Bryant Jr (VP and Chief Philanthrophy Officer): $321,644 total reported compensation
  • Patrick J Birmingham IV (Fmr VP Philanthr. (through Feb 2024)): $303,083 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Covenant Health Foundation raises and distributes funds in support of patient care, equipment, programs, services and staff not otherwise funded by Covenant Health and its affiliates. The Foundation's mission is to provide charitable support to further Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Foundation supports a variety of other programs and services throughout Covenant Health. The most significant distributions in 2024, which were directed to the Covenant parent company, Peninsula behavioral health programs, Parkwest Medical Center, the Fellowship outpatient lodging program, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Cumberland Medical Center, systemwide outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs, the Fort Sanders Dept. of Nursing at Tennessee Wesleyan College, Fort Loudoun Medical Center, and Roane Medical Center are outlined below: In 2024, the Foundation supported the Covenant Health parent company by underwriting a $300,000 portion of the new vice president of philanthropy salary costs for the first year of that position. Some $140,000 in funds raised through the annual Artsclamation! fine art sale and other donations supported behavioral health care at Peninsula. Funds supported Peninsula's emergency room diversion project which places a team of behavioral specialists in Covenant Health emergency departments to assess patients who make repeated non-emergency visits to the emergency room. These specialists develop a personalized treatment plan for patients, proposing alternative options to visiting the ED and providing follow-up support and resources to these patients. Additional funds provided discharge medications to patients who need a supply of prescriptions when they leave the hospital to maintain their health until they are set up on TennCare or other payer sources for ongoing maintenance medications. Donations also supported the placement of behavioral health staff in Covenant HomeCare's onsite clinic at Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) to provide counseling and case management services to those clients. Peninsula patients were supported with emergency funding assistance to help with necessary living expenses such as utilities, housing, medications and transportation.Distributions to Parkwest Medical Center of just over $40,000 supported advanced clinical education and training, as well as postpartum and newborn care educational materials for new parents. The Fellowship Outpatient Lodging Program, which is supported entirely by contributions, offers free hotel accommodations and transportation to treatment for patients and families coping with serious illnesses. The program primarily serves Thompson Cancer Survival Center patients and their families who live more than 30 miles from Knoxville. In 2024, $26,675 in distributions supported the program. The program housed 24 guests in 2024 providing 200 nights of free lodging. Approximately $18,500 was distributed to Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, including funds to support perinatal center parents, cardiac rehab patients, the hospital's chaplaincy program, and an ethics gap needs assessment for staff.Just over $13,000 in donations were distributed to Cumberland Medical Center, primarily to provide cancer patient assistance and continuing clinical education.The Foundation receives grant funds annually from the Will Rogers Institute to support pulmonary rehabilitation across Covenant Health. The grant funds provide scholarships to assist outpatient pulmonary rehab patients without insurance coverage or the ability to pay. In 2024, approximately $8,300 in funding benefited 38 patients at Methodist, LeConte, and Fort Sanders Regional outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation clinics.Small distributions were also made to the Fort Sanders Dept. of Nursing at Tennessee Wesleyan College, Fort Loudoun Medical Center, and Roane Medical Center to support clinical education.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 89
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd 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: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 22nd 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: -33.7%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.06; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3.2M · 12 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 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: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 35 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.