Medical Center of the Americas Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208314979
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
El Paso, TX, USA
Phone
9156132478
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,651,202
Expenses
$3,469,908
Assets
$18,416,051
Liabilities
$4,511,805

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CARLOS ORTEGA (CEO AND CFO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARLOS ORTEGA (CEO AND CFO): $258,913 total reported compensation
  • XAVIER CARDENAS (SR. DIRECTOR, ENGINEERING,): $157,187 total reported compensation
  • NANCY LOWERY (SR. DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION): $149,968 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The purpose or purposes for which the corporation is organized are as follows: (1) to encourage and assist in the establishment of a medical center in el paso, Texas; (2) to facilitate and promote medical research and education to address health issues impacting the greater el paso, Texas geographic area; (3) to make grants, loans or other distributions to qualified organizations or individuals exclusively to address the health needs of the general population of the greater el paso, Texas geographic area; (4) to perform such other services, activities and functions as may be permitted to corporations exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code of 1986 (the "code"); and (5) at all times and within such purposes, to operate exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes, within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the code.

What it reported doing in 2025

This program consists of activities directed to the development of physical infrastructure needed to support the biomedical cluster by establishing the region's first biomedical and healthcare research park, beginning with its anchor building, the cardwell collaborative, as well as providing funding for the construction of Texas tech university health sciences center gayle greve hunt school of nursing building. The organization entered into an agreement with the governmental instrumentalities, Texas tech health sciences center and the Texas tech university system, whereby the organization will provide funding for the construction of building improvements for the gayle greve hunt school of nursing to be operated by Texas tech. The grant derives from the impact fund award to the organization made by the city of el paso as described in line 4a above.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 71% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.2%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $568.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 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: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.4%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.31; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.2% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $259K · 15 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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 — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.