CoxHealth
Legal name: Lester E Cox Medical Centers
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 440577118
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Springfield, MO, USA
- Phone
- 417-269-3000
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Hospital, General
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,960,936,555
- Expenses
- $1,923,741,396
- Assets
- $2,112,797,427
- Liabilities
- $793,094,912
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
21 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MAX D BUETOW (PRESIDENT & CEO)
- ASHLEY CASAD (PRESIDENT, SHG)
- STEVE EDWARDS (FORMER PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- MAX D BUETOW (PRESIDENT & CEO): $1,977,250 total reported compensation
- JACOB M MCWAY (EVP, COXHEALTH CFO): $1,529,586 total reported compensation
- KARIM WELAYA (PHYSICIAN): $953,948 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our Mission, Vision, and Values At CoxHealth, our mission is to improve the health of the communities we serve by delivering high-quality, compassionate care grounded in safety, respect, and integrity. Our Mission. At CoxHealth, our mission is to improve the health of the communities we serve by delivering high-quality, compassionate care grounded in safety, respect, and integrity. Our Mission To improve the health of the communities we serve. CoxHealth is the region’s leading not-for-profit health system, serving 25 counties through six hospitals and more than 100 clinics. Backed by over 14,000 dedicated employees—including physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants—we provide nearly 2 million clinic visits and over 41,000 surgeries annually, along with 24/7 emergency care and specialized services. Our work is supported by over 600 volunteers and contributes more than...
What it reported doing in 2024
Hospital services: as a community owned, non-profit hospital, lester e. Cox medical centers provides the kind of care and programs that are needed to serve many of the most vulnerable in our communities - the underinsured and uninsured. Community benefit totaled $1,533,028,300 system-wide in these categories: short-falls in reimbursement and charity care; community outreach services including community education, health screenings, support groups and immunizations; health professionals education and research, including the un-reimbursed cost of cox family medicine residency and schools of allied health professions; and foundation grants, financial contributions and in-kind donations. The hospital also operates cox college, a private, non-profit single purpose college accredited to provide academic programming in a variety of allied health fields.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 98% 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 - 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 the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 64
- Accountability: 81
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 89.1%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 19th 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: 1.9%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.1; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 90% of revenue deployed · 89.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.7B in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $2M · 21 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $62.3M reported
- Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
- Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.