Vbems Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382745910
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Kalamazoo, MI, USA
Phone
2693416000
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ambulance, Emergency Medical Transport Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,732,994
Expenses
$8,052,978
Assets
$8,863,407
Liabilities
$469,014

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Bill Manns (President and CEO)
  • Matthew Dommer (Vice President, COO/VPMA - BLH/BSHH)

Highest reported compensation

  • Bill Manns (President and CEO): $3,569,592 total reported compensation
  • Rebecca L East (Sr VP CFO): $1,292,055 total reported compensation
  • James Falahee (Sr VP Legal & Leg. Affairs): $1,085,458 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Together, we advance the health of our communities

What it reported doing in 2024

Van buren emergency medical services (vbems) is a not-for-profit ambulance company owned and operated by bronson healthcare group (bhg), as part of the full continuum of care that bhg brings to the communities it serves. Vbems provides emergency medical response services in the Michigan townships of: almena, antwerp, arlington, bangor, decatur, hamilton, hartford, keeler, lawrence, paw paw, porter, and waverly. Headquartered in paw paw, mi, vbems responds to approximately 10,000 ambulance calls and provides 3,900 wheelchair patient transports annually. Vbems provides emergency medical response to all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 70% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 98.1%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.8%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.1; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 50%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.9% of revenue deployed · 98.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 18 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $7.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3.6M · 35 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $608K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 14 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.