Ascension Health’s published figures show a large nonprofit health system measured across hospitals, outpatient care, community programs, research, and environmental initiatives. The latest figures cover different periods: FY25 organizational statistics, FY24 operating and service data, and selected maternal-health and sustainability measurements from 2019 through 2024.
Contents
- At a glance
- Hospitals, workforce, and reach
- Patient services and activity
- Financial and community-benefit measures
- Maternal health and social support
- Research and clinical studies
- Environmental performance
At a glance
Several headline figures frame Ascension’s scale and public-service role:
- In FY25, Ascension reported 97,300 associates and a network of 90 wholly owned or consolidated hospitals. It also held ownership interests in 29 additional hospitals through partnerships, operated 22 senior living facilities, and covered 16 states plus the District of Columbia. (Ascension About Us)
- In FY25, the system provided $1.7 billion in care for people living in poverty and other community-benefit programs, along with $1.8 billion in unreimbursed care for Medicare patients. (Ascension About Us)
- FY24 consolidated activity included 706,635 discharges by service, 5,326,880 patient days, 25,718,421 outpatient visits, and 3,018,845 emergency-room visits. (Ascension Consolidated Statistical Information FY24)
- Ascension recorded 74,433 newborn births in FY24. (Ascension Consolidated Statistical Information FY24)
These figures are not all like-for-like snapshots. The FY25 profile describes the system’s later footprint, while the detailed service table describes consolidated FY24 activity.
Hospitals, workforce, and reach
Ascension’s published hospital counts vary by date and organizational definition. In FY25, its About Us profile counted 90 wholly owned or consolidated hospitals plus ownership interests in 29 additional hospitals through partnerships. The same profile counted 22 senior living facilities and operations across 16 states and the District of Columbia. (Ascension About Us)
An earlier system-wide quality announcement used a broader count: Ascension operated 140 hospitals across 18 states and the District of Columbia when it announced its 2024 CMS star-rating results. CMS hospital star ratings in that release were based on 46 publicly reported quality measures. (Ascension CMS star ratings release)
The workforce figures also come from different reporting contexts. Ascension reported 97,300 associates in FY25. Its FY24 financial results said 134,000 associates delivered the turnaround described in that report, while its FY24 consolidated statistical information reported 126,912 full-time-equivalent employees. (Ascension About Us; Ascension FY24 financial results; Ascension Consolidated Statistical Information FY24)
| Measure | Reported figure | Period or context |
|---|---|---|
| Wholly owned or consolidated hospitals | 90 | FY25 |
| Additional hospitals through partnerships | 29 | FY25 |
| Hospitals in broader CMS-rating announcement | 140 | 2024 announcement |
| Senior living facilities | 22 | FY25 |
| Full-time-equivalent employees | 126,912 | FY24 |
| Total available beds | 25,368 | FY24 |
Ascension reported 25,368 total available beds in FY24, including 24,232 beds when bassinets were excluded. These capacity measures help distinguish staffed or available inpatient resources from the broader workforce and facility counts. (Ascension Consolidated Statistical Information FY24)
Patient services and activity
Acute care accounted for 640,581 of Ascension’s FY24 discharges. Other reported discharge categories included 40,472 psychiatric-care discharges, 11,912 rehabilitation discharges, 674 skilled-nursing-facility and residential-living discharges, 1,009 long-term-acute-care discharges, and 11,987 other long-term sub-acute-care discharges. The reported total across services was 706,635 discharges. (Ascension Consolidated Statistical Information FY24)
Patient days show a different view of utilization because longer stays contribute more days. Ascension reported 3,177,442 acute-care patient days and 310,976 psychiatric-care patient days in FY24. Rehabilitation accounted for 143,878 patient days; skilled nursing facility care, 925,309; assisted living, 178,916; residential living, 9,649; long-term acute care, 37,365; and other long-term sub-acute care, 543,345. The total was 5,326,880 patient days by service. (Ascension Consolidated Statistical Information FY24)
The same FY24 statistical information reported 25,718,421 outpatient visits, including 423,822 outpatient surgical visits, and 156,019 inpatient surgical visits. Emergency rooms recorded 3,018,845 visits. Newborn activity included 74,433 births and 129,512 newborn patient days. (Ascension Consolidated Statistical Information FY24)
Ascension’s maternal-health report placed annual birthing-unit volume between 72,000 and 78,000 babies across the five years before that report. It said this represented approximately 2%, or one in 50, of the 3.6 million babies born in the United States each year. These are system-reported comparisons rather than a new national estimate. (Ascension Maternal Health Report)
Financial and community-benefit measures
Ascension’s FY24 financial results reported a $1.8 billion operating loss including cyber impact and a $3.0 billion prior-year comparison operating loss. The report described a $1.2 billion year-over-year improvement in total FY24 operating loss. Including nonoperating items, Ascension reported a $1.1 billion net loss for FY24. (Ascension FY24 financial results)
For the ten months ended April 30, 2024, Ascension reported a $79 million loss from recurring operations, compared with a $1.2 billion loss for the comparable prior-year period. During the same ten-month period, total operating revenue increased 5.2%, while total operating expenses recorded 0.5% net growth. Including May and June 2024, FY24 operating revenue increased 0.7% and operating expenses increased 0.4%. (Ascension FY24 financial results)
The financial report said Ascension’s balance sheet held approximately $41 billion of assets and more than $15 billion of liquidity. Those figures describe reported financial position and liquidity, not patient-care spending alone. (Ascension FY24 financial results)
Community-benefit figures provide another view of the system’s mission. In FY25, Ascension reported $1.7 billion in care for people living in poverty and other community-benefit programs, plus $1.8 billion in unreimbursed Medicare care. Its maternal-health report said charity care and community benefit reached $2.2 billion in FY2023 and that community benefit and care for people living in poverty exceeded $23.5 billion cumulatively since FY2010. (Ascension About Us; Ascension Maternal Health Report)
Maternal health and social support
In 2024, Medicaid insured 43.3% of babies born at Ascension hospitals, while 1.51% were self-pay patients. Ascension reported a 20.48% PC-07 maternal morbidity rate for all patients and a 32.6% positive-health-outcomes figure for all patients, especially underserved communities. The report also said financial-assistance deductions were 3.6% of total gross patient revenue, compared with 1.6% for other nonprofit systems. (Ascension Maternal Health Report)
Ascension’s Maternal Health Social System Initiative recorded results in Milwaukee pilots. In 2019, it reached 977 high-risk mothers; 85% of babies were born at term, and the site showed a 17.1% change over baseline. In 2020, the pilot reached 999 high-risk mothers, reported 83.2% of babies born at term, and a 31.4% change over baseline. In 2021, it reached 536 high-risk mothers, reported 85.9% of babies born at term, and a 12.9% change over baseline. (Ascension Maternal Health Report)
The report said the initiative had reached 1,500 high-risk mothers since 2019 and that Ascension had invested nearly $500,000 since 2019 to test and evaluate it. These pilot figures are tied to the named Milwaukee sites and years; they should not be read as system-wide birth outcomes. (Ascension Maternal Health Report)
Neighborhood Resources search had been used by more than 300,000 patients and community members since its 2021 launch. Ascension said the program had served 80,000 people across 11 states, invested about $1 million in implementation, training, and education, and invested an additional $2 million for expansion through 2030. It expected 1 million people to use the search by 2030. (Ascension Maternal Health Report)
Other planned or reported investments included about $500,000 per year for social-determinants-of-health screening and analytics expansion to 18 states, about $1 million in total for Neighborhood Resources expansion, and about $2.5 million by 2030 for population screening work. Ascension also reported $1.2 million invested in food and related initiatives since 2021 and said its Foundation planned at least 20 unsolicited grants in 2024 for postpartum mothers. (Ascension Maternal Health Report)
Research and clinical studies
Ascension’s ACRI report said that, in FY24, Ascension investigators participated in more than 3,000 active studies and more than 1,000 clinical trials. Researchers were featured in more than 680 scientific publications during the same fiscal year. Because the source uses “more than,” these are minimum reported thresholds rather than exact totals. (Ascension ACRI report)
Environmental performance
Ascension’s FY24 environmental report said its carbon reduction was equivalent to removing more than 34,000 cars from the road for one year. It reported annual carbon reduction from baseline of -2.30% in 2019, 0.00% in 2020, -3.81% in 2021, -7.38% in 2022, and -11.47% in 2023. The report also said switching to sevoflurane was equivalent to avoiding more than 10 million miles of driving each year. (Ascension FY24 Environmental Report)
The FY24 emissions-source mix was led by purchased electricity at 57.6% and natural gas at 34.5%. Steam and chilled water accounted for 3.0%; nitrous oxide, 1.7%; refrigerants, 1.2%; backup generators, 1.1%; volatile anesthetics, 0.7%; and mobile fleet, 0.1%. (Ascension FY24 Environmental Report)
Operational recycling and supplier work were also quantified. St. Vincent Indianapolis–Women & Children’s Hospital reported 55.0% recycled job-to-date, while St. Vincent Indianapolis–Brain & Spine Hospital reported 61.8%. Ascension St. John Medical Center collected more than 4 tons of single-use devices through reprocessing. Ascension set a FY24 supplier-review goal of meeting with 25 suppliers about packaging and greenhouse-gas reductions, and 15 Ascension hospitals earned Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards. (Ascension FY24 Environmental Report)