Ascension Sacred Heart

Legal name: Sacred Heart Health System Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
590634434
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Location
St Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3147338000
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Hospital, General

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,847,286,701
Expenses
$1,735,230,697
Assets
$938,976,682
Liabilities
$518,924,327

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DON E KING (CEO, MINISTRY MARKET)
  • BRYAN JAMES WALRATH (PRESIDENT, CLAY COUNTY)
  • EARL RUBEN ABSHIER (PRESIDENT, EMERALD COAST)
  • JASON A FOLAND MD (PRESIDENT, STUDER FAMILY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL)
  • ROBIN M GODWIN (PRESIDENT, BAY)
  • WILLIS FRANKLIN CONDON (PRESIDENT, PENSACOLA)

Highest reported compensation

  • DON E KING (CEO, MINISTRY MARKET): $2,226,391 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER F VILLAR MD (PHYSICIAN): $2,186,592 total reported compensation
  • GEORGE M COMAS MD (PHYSICIAN (END 10/2024)): $1,720,143 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Rooted in the loving ministry of jesus as healer, we commit ourselves to serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Our catholic health ministry is dedicated to spiritually-centered, holistic care which sustains and improves the health of individuals and communities. We are advocates for a compassionate and just society through our actions and our words.

What it reported doing in 2024

The filing organization is a part of the Ascension Catholic Health Ministry. Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization that delivers personalized, compassionate care to all, especially to those who need it the most. Sacred Heart Health System, Inc. has 866 available beds on 4 campuses that provide services without regard to patient race, creed, national origin, economic status, or ability to pay. During fiscal year 2025, Sacred Heart Health System, Inc. treated 44,331 adults and children for a total of 207,811 patient days of service. The hospital also provided services for 1,642,854 outpatient visits, which included 21,623 outpatient surgeries and 218,245 Emergency Room Visits. See Schedule H for a non-exhaustive list of community benefit programs and descriptions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 99% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 28
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 17th 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: 98.3%; rating input score 98; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.1%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 74.6% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.2M · 25 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $40.5M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 27 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 386 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.

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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.