Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
390813416
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
La Crosse, WI, USA
Phone
6087827300
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Hospital, General
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,731,749,423
Expenses
$1,602,976,376
Assets
$2,183,229,728
Liabilities
$12,304,539

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANDREA HAUSER RN (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, VICE PRESIDENT, ACUTE CARE LA CROSSE & SYSTEM CNO)
  • HEATHER SCHIMMERS RN (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PRESIDENT)
  • SCOTT RATHGABER MD (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIRMAN, CEO)
  • KELLEY BAHR MD (MEDICAL VICE PRESIDENT, AMBULATORY SERVICES)
  • KRAIG SCHUSTER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL MCKEE (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SCOTT RATHGABER MD (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIRMAN, CEO): $1,397,550 total reported compensation
  • HEATHER SCHIMMERS RN (BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PRESIDENT): $914,152 total reported compensation
  • JOHN CEELEN (TREASURER, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $782,368 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Gundersen lutheran medical center (glmc) a physician led, not-for-profit healthcare system, established in 1899, provides acute and tertiary care for 21 counties located throughout western Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. We serve as a regional referral center. Glmc is a teaching hospital with 325 licensed beds and a level ii trauma and emergency center. Our mission is to distinguish ourselves through excellence in patient care, education, research and improved health in the communities we serve. We will work as a team to demonstrate our values: integrity - perform with honesty, responsibility and transparency, excellence - achieve excellence in all aspects of delivering healthcare, respect - treat patients, families and coworkers with dignity, innovation - embrace change and new ideas, compassion - provide compassionate care to patients and families. Our current vision is to enhance the health and wellbeing of our communities while enriching every life we touch

What it reported doing in 2024

Glmc provides a comprehensive range of inpatient, clinical and diagnostic services in numerous medical specialties and subspecialties. Glmc is a teaching hospital with 325 licensed beds with specialty services including renal dialysis, cancer care, rehabilitation services, and cardiac services. In 2013, glmc opened a new inpatient behavioral health building, meeting a tremendous need in our region for additional beds and services. We are able to provide care locally for patients of all ages. The facility is the only place in the region offering inpatient care for adolescents and teenagers with behavioral health needs. Glmc has repeatedly been named one of the top 50 hospitals in the nation, placing us in the top one percent. Glmc voluntarily provides medically necessary patient care service that is discounted or free of charge to persons who have insufficient resources and/or who are uninsured. For the period of october 1, 2024 through september 30, 2025, glmc provided assistance to approximately 15,974 patients that resulted in glmc incurring roughly $36,835,797 in uncompensated cost associated with this program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 100% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 32
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 97.6%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.4%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.36; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.3% of revenue deployed · 97.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.4M · 29 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 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: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 33 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.