Sawtooth Mountain Clinic

Legal name: Sawtooth Mountain Clinic Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411347593
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Grand Marais, MN, USA
Phone
2183872330
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health Treatment Facilities, Primarily Outpatient

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,282,308
Expenses
$9,656,962
Assets
$10,157,412
Liabilities
$1,520,856

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATE SURBAUGH (CEO)
  • MATTHEW BROWN (President)
  • RICK ANDERSON (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL TERRILL (PHYSICIAN): $294,356 total reported compensation
  • Alexys Hillman (PHYSICIAN): $250,910 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER DELFS (PHYSICIAN): $248,570 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s mission is to offer high-quality health care to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.

What it reported doing in 2024

Health care services for cook county, mn - full-time physicians performed 8,465 medical encounters, nurse practitioners performed 6,330 medical encounters, nurses performed 697 medical encounters, licensed independent clinical social workers performed 3,195 medical encounters, and dietitians performed 34 medical encounters during the fiscal year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 62% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.1%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 66.9%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.1%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.05; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.8%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 78.1% of revenue deployed · 66.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $294K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.