Mercy Services Downtown Inc

“Jane gerety, rsm is a member of the religious sisters of mercy. Having taken a vow of poverty, sister jane did not receive compensation for the services she provided to saint joseph's health system and its affiliates except for insurance benefits of $11,413. Instead, a total of $208,011 was paid by saint joseph's mercy care services directly to the religious sisters of mercy for sister jane's services.”

“The sole member of mercy services downtown is saint joseph's health system. See line 7 for additional information.”

“Saint joseph's health system is the sole member of mercy services downtown. Saint joseph's health system has the right to appoint all persons to the board of directors of mercy services downtown.”

“As sole member, saint joseph's health system must approve certain decisions of the governing body, including the strategic plan, annual capital plan, and annual operating budget. Saint joseph's health system must also approve significant changes such as a merger, dissolution, sale of assets in excess of certain limits, and modifications to governing documents. As the parent of the national trinity health system, certain powers are reserved to trinity health corporation. These include the authority to adopt or modify the organization's governing documents, to approve major changes such as a merger or dissolution, and to approve significant finance matters in excess of certain limits established by trinity health corporation.”

“Line 8b is answered "no" because mercy services downtown had no committees with authority to act on behalf of the governing body.”

“Prior to filing, the form 990 for mercy services downtown is reviewed by management. Each member of the board receives a copy of the return in its final form before it is filed with the internal revenue service.”

“Mercy services downtown has adopted trinity health's governance policy no. 1, which sets forth the organization's conflict of interest policy and processes. It applies to all "interested persons" of mercy services downtown, which includes directors, principal officers, and key employees. Interested persons are expected to discharge their duties in a manner the person reasonably believes to be in the best interests of mercy services downtown and to avoid situations involving a conflict of interest. On an annual basis, interested persons are required to complete a conflict of interest disclosure statement and to affirm their receipt of the conflict of interest policy, compliance with its requirements, and agree to notify the organization of changes impacting their annual disclosure in accordance with the policy. The annual disclosures are provided to the integrity and compliance officer, who collaborates with internal legal counsel to assess the conflict and identify a conflict management plan when necessary. Additionally, the integrity and compliance officer along with legal counsel prepares a report for the board chair and ceo. A summary of potential conflicts is reviewed with the board of directors of mercy services downtown on a yearly basis. Interested persons are required to make full disclosure to mercy services downtown of any financial or business interests that might result in or have the appearance of a conflict of interest. The board of directors of mercy services downtown is responsible for the review of transactions to determine whether an actual conflict of interest exists. In the event of an actual conflict, the board will either avoid the conflict or appropriately scrutinize the transaction to ensure it is in the best interests of mercy services downtown. Interested persons are required to recuse themselves from discussion and voting on matters involving a conflict of interest. The policy further addresses the proper documentation of the proceedings and potential disciplinary and corrective action for violations of the policy. The policy is available to the public upon request.”

“Question 15a is answered "no" because the compensation for mercy services downtown's ceo is established and paid by trinity health, a related organization. In establishing ceo compensation, trinity health follows a process and policy that is intended to mirror the irc section 4958 guidelines for obtaining a "rebuttable presumption of reasonableness" with regard to compensation and benefits. As part of that process, the compensation and benefits of mercy services downtown's ceo are reviewed at least annually by the trinity health board or the trinity health human resources and compensation committee (hrcc) of the board, authorized to act on behalf of the board with respect to certain compensation matters. As part of its review process, the hrcc retains an independent firm experienced in compensation and benefit matters for not-for-profit health care organizations to advise it in the determinations it makes on the reasonableness of proposed compensation and benefits arrangements. Question 15b is answered "no" because the compensation for other officers is established and paid by saint joseph's mercy care services, a related organization. In establishing other officer compensation, saint joseph's mercy care services follows a process which includes a market analysis and management review and approval to determine the appropriateness of the individual's compensation. This process is performed annually.”

“Mercy services downtown is a subsidiary organization in the trinity health system. Trinity health makes certain of its key documents available to the public on its website, www.trinity-health.org, in the "about us" section. In this section, the consolidated audited financial statements are publicly available. Mercy services downtown's governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available upon request.”

“Mercy services downtown's financial statements were included in the fy24 consolidated financial statements of trinity health, which were audited by an independent public accounting firm.”