Children's of Alabama

Legal name: The Children's Hospital of Alabama

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
630307306
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2056389100
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Hospital, Specialty

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$953,214,153
Expenses
$885,833,064
Assets
$988,226,337
Liabilities
$557,551,920

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Thomas G Shufflebarger (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Thomas G Shufflebarger (President & CEO): $1,662,388 total reported compensation
  • Brian J Wiatrak (Pediatrician): $1,167,012 total reported compensation
  • Audie L Woolley (Pediatrician): $1,161,631 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 the finest pediatric health services to all children—advocating for children and educating the public about issues affecting children’s health and well-being—supported by research and medical education. The **mission** of Children’s of Alabama is to provide the finest pediatric health services to all children in an environment that fosters excellence in research and medical education. Children’s will be an advocate for all children and work to educate the public about issues affecting children's health and well-being. The **vision** of Children’s of Alabama is to be nationally recognized as a comprehensive regional and national pediatric healthcare center providing one class of excellent patient care through innovative and proven clinical care, education and research. Children's of Alabama shall have as its **values:.

What it reported doing in 2024

Inpatient: Children's of Alabama provides specialized medical care for ill and injured children. Ranked among the best children's hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Children's serves patients from every county in Alabama and nearly every state. With more than 3.5 million square feet, it is one of the largest pediatric medical facilities in the United States. Children's offers inpatient and outpatient services at its Russell Campus on Birmingham's historic Southside with additional specialty services provided at Children's South, Children's on 3rd and in Huntsville and Montgomery. Primary medical care is provided in more than a dozen communities across central Alabama. Children's is the only health system in Alabama dedicated solely to the care and treatment of children. It is a private, not-for-profit medical center that serves as the teaching hospital for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) pediatric medicine, surgery, psychiatry, research and residency programs. Children's operates 357 beds, which include 54 NICU bassinets and 100 critical care beds in the following units: Cardiovascular, Pediatric, Neonatal, Special Care, Critical Care, Burn and Stem Cell Transplant. In 2024, Children's Hospital had 16,352 Pdischarges and 101,004patient days. Inpatient surgery cases totaled 6,156 for 2024. The Children's Critical Care Transport team provides helicopter, jet, and ground transport for critically ill and injured children. Outpatient: Children's Hospital operates 13 outpatient specialty clinics that handle follow-up visits for patients as well as referrals from health departments across the state. These clinics provide services in Hemodialysis, Gastroenterology, Hematology/Oncology, Orthopedics, Urology, Otorhinolaryngology, Neurology, Pulmonary Function, General Surgery, Dental, Behavioral Services, Speech and Hearing, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Heart Transplant and others. In 2024, these clinics had 285,798 visits and 22,956outpatient surgeries were performed. The Hospital also provides a statewide and regional referral site for complex emergency patients. The Emergency Department had 60,941visits in 2024. Pediatric Practices: The Hospital has a network of primary care practices throughout the state known as Pediatric Practice Solutions. It consists of 14 practices supporting approximately 70 general pediatricians. In 2024 these practices provided 307,232visits.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 97% 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 most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
  • 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 51st 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: 7.1%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.12; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.56; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 76.9% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 30 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $726.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.7M · 42 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $86M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.