Southwest Healthcare Services

What it reported doing in 2024

Southwest Healthcare Services' Mission Statement is "Guided by Faith, we provide excellent care for those we are privileged to serve!". We are in Bowman, North Dakota, and operate a 35-bed critical access hospital, offering a range of outpatient services including lab work, radiology, and various therapies. Additionally, we support the community with a rural health clinic, 12-unit assisted living facility, 12-unit independent living apartment complex, and ambulance services. We provide care to our long-term nursing home residents in our Swingbed unit. Southwest Healthcare Services is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing quality healthcare for over 5,500 residents in seven rural communities in the southwest corner of North Dakota and the northwest corner of South Dakota. Southwest Healthcare Services operates a full-time emergency room and provides emergency care regardless of ability to pay. The facility has achieved Level IV Trauma designation with physician staffed emergency services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our organization is one of the most important economic assets in the region. Services provided in 2024 demonstrated the strong need for Southwest Healthcare Services. Our rural health clinic had over 5,973 patient encounters and the hospital recorded 770 emergency room visits.Southwest Healthcare Services also provides non-emergency services to the community making these services accessible to the community through participation in government programs like Medicare and Medicaid and our own charity care program. Services are provided to all individuals regardless of individual status. Southwest Healthcare Services charity care program provides discounted and free services to patients that are unable to be fully responsible for the cost of the health care they receive. We are committed to responding to the increasing number of patients who are under-insured or without insurance and who need to seek healthcare services at our facility. To fulfill its mission of community service, we provide care to these patients who meet certain criteria under its charity care policy without charge or at amounts less than its established rates. Because we do not pursue collection of amounts determined to qualify as charity care, they are not reported as patient and resident service revenue. The estimated cost of providing charity care for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $93,000 calculated by multiplying the ratio of cost to gross charges by the gross uncompensated charges associated with providing charity care to patients.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 88.5%; rating input score 88
• Program expense ratio: 84.1%; rating input score 84
• Fundraising efficiency: $49.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 21st 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: -4.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.72; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.81; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings