Mercy

Legal name: Mercy Health

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431423050
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Chesterfield, MO, USA
Phone
3145796100
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$310,443,758
Expenses
$84,084,421
Assets
$4,821,270,799
Liabilities
$2,794,686,009

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stephen L Mackin (President & CEO & Board Member)
  • Dave Thompson (SVP, Chief Growth Officer & President, Population Health)
  • Jeffrey Ciaramita MD (President, Specialty Service Lines)
  • John G Helton MD (President, Primary Care)
  • Shannon Sock (EVP, CSO & COO, President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Stephen L Mackin (President & CEO & Board Member): $8,335,401 total reported compensation
  • Shannon Sock (EVP, CSO & COO, President): $8,311,222 total reported compensation
  • Joseph Kelly (EVP, Chief Strategy & Technology Officer): $3,394,702 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide compassionate, high-quality health care services to communities in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mercy health is tax exempt under irc section 501(c)(3) and 170(b)(1)(a)(1) as a church. Mercy health is listed in the official catholic directory and its tax-exempt status is derived from the group exemption ruling of the united states conference of catholic bishops. Mercy health is the sole corporate member of 15 tax-exempt organizations, which in turn are the sole corporate members of over 50 other tax-exempt organizations. These other tax-exempt organizations include but are not limited to hospitals, foundations, and medical group/physician clinic organizations. All of the exempt organizations are essential to mercy health and in carrying out the exempt purpose of mercy health.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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 the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 27.1%; rating input score 27
  • Program expense ratio: 99.9%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 32nd 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: 72.9%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 57.34; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.58; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.9%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 11 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 27.1% of revenue deployed · 99.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $84M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $8.3M · 32 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $16.8M reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes 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: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 88 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 27/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.