Empath Health

Legal name: Empath-stratum Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
851356625
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Clearwater, FL, US
Phone
(727) 467-7423
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Hospices

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$49,856,420
Expenses
$58,716,102
Assets
$749,387,948
Liabilities
$110,049,417

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JONATHAN FLEECE (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JONATHAN FLEECE (PRESIDENT/CEO): $792,410 total reported compensation
  • TARRAH L LOWRY (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $671,396 total reported compensation
  • NEVILLE B SARKARI (FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER): $510,092 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of empath-stratum, inc. Is to promote and support the charitable mission of each of its affiliates.

What it reported doing in 2024

Empath stratum , inc. Provides leadership and strategic guidance for its affiliates: empath hospice division, empath complete care division, empath home health division, empath community services division, and related foundations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 93% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 51.7%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 43.9%; rating input score 44
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd 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: -17.8%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.76; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 60.2% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 53% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 14 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 51.7% of revenue deployed · 43.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $25.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $792K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.2M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 24 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.