Sutter Health


Sutter Health is a not-for-profit integrated health delivery system headquartered in Sacramento, California. It operates 24 acute care hospitals and over 200 clinics in Northern California.
Sutter Hospital Association was founded in 1921 as a response to the 1918 flu pandemic. Named for nearby Sutter's Fort, its first hospital opened in 1923. Later known as Sutter Community Hospitals, the organization eventually merged with a number of struggling hospitals in the surrounding area. In 1996, Sutter merged with California Healthcare System, expanding its footprint into the San Francisco Bay Area.

History

Origins

The organization takes its name from one of Sacramento’s original European settlements, Sutter's Fort, built by California pioneer John Sutter. In response to the 1918 flu pandemic, community leaders constructed the first Sutter Hospital in the vicinity of the fort, replacing an old adobe house that had previously served as a makeshift hospital. Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento occupies this site today.
Other Sutter Health-affiliated hospitals date back to the 1800s and were some of Northern California's earliest health care providers. For example, California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco was formed out of successive hospital and medical school mergers dating back to the city's earliest days of organized medicine. In 1866, the predecessor of today's Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa opened its doors to residents of Sonoma County.
Many of the health care facilities that eventually became part of the Sutter Health network were created as charitable hospitals by community members in cities coping with growing populations, epidemics, fires, floods and earthquakes.

Late 20th Century

Government cutbacks, the advent of managed care, and other financial pressures fueled an increase in hospital and physician organization mergers, acquisitions and affiliations. By 1995, Sutter Health had grown to include 18 affiliated hospitals, seven medical foundations and numerous outpatient care centers throughout Northern California.
Meanwhile, in the San Francisco Bay Area, another affiliation of hospitals was forming. By 1986, Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center in San Francisco, Mills-Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo and Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae had created an affiliation known as California Healthcare System. Berkeley-based Alta Bates Corporation joined CHS in 1992, the same year that saw the creation of California Pacific Medical Center, formed through a merger of Pacific Presbyterian and Children's Hospital of San Francisco.
In January 1996, Sutter Health and California Healthcare System merged.

21st Century

The new century brought advances in health care technology and Sutter Health was among the first health systems in the United States to install bar code medication safety technology and an electronic intensive care unit.
In 2010, Sutter Health reorganized its hospitals and medical foundations into five regions: Central Valley, Sacramento Sierra, East Bay, West Bay, and Peninsula Coastal. In November 2014, it announced further operational integration of its five operating units into two: Bay Area and Valley Area.
In 2016, Sutter Health became the jersey sponsor of the San Jose Earthquakes. In 2019, the Sacramento River Cats stadium was renamed Sutter Health Park.

Hospitals and Clinics

Sutter Health consists of 24 acute care hospitals and five medical foundations, plus specialized centers for surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, rehab, and home care. As of 2015, Sutter Health organizes most operations into two geographic units.

Sutter Health Bay Area

Sutter Bay Hospitals

Sutter Valley Hospitals

In 2010, Marin General Hospital left Sutter Health to operate independently under the Marin Healthcare District.

Notable services

Sutter Health doctors and hospitals provide a variety of clinical services including cancer care, complementary medicine, diabetes care, heart care, children's health, home health/hospice, mental health care, orthopedics, pregnancy and childbirth, sleep disorders, transplant services, and weight loss surgery.
Sutter Health affiliates have been nationally recognized for cardiac care, neonatology, transplant care, and neurosurgery.
Until the opening of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital's pediatric emergency department in 2013, Sutter ran the only pediatric emergency department in San Francisco.

Quality

Sutter Health doctors and hospitals participate in voluntary and mandatory programs that publicly report patient satisfaction, cost, utilization and quality of care measures. These include Hospital Compare, California Healthcare Foundation, California Office of the Patient Advocate, and The Leapfrog Group.
Sutter Health affiliated hospitals and medical groups, have been recognized by a number of independent health care quality organizations. For example:
In 2014, the Brookings Institution and The Atlantic wrote about Sutter Health's nationally recognized Advanced Illness Management program, which improves quality of life for patients with advanced, chronic illness, reduces unnecessary hospitalizations, and makes care more cost effective. In 2015, NPR in Los Angeles reported that the Sutter Health network doctors are standardizing treatment and testing options to make care more consistent and help reduce overall costs for patients, while maintaining care quality.

Legal actions

In 2004, Sutter Health implemented a systemwide policy for charity care and health care discounts for uninsured and underinsured patients. In 2006 Sutter Health expanded its policy to offer automatic discounts to uninsured patients. Later it, along with several other health systems, reached settlement agreements in class-action lawsuits related to the billing of uninsured patients.
In 2014, the UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust filed a class action antitrust lawsuit against Sutter Health. In 2018, the Attorney General of California filed a lawsuit against Sutter Health, alleging antitrust. The Attorney General and UFCW ultimately settled their combined cases out of court in December 2019. Under the terms of the settlement, Sutter was not required to admit wrongdoing, but will pay plaintiffs $575 million in damages, and has agreed to significantly change its anti-competitive business practices.

Labor relations

Sutter Health's physician organizations, hospitals, home health and other services have nearly 60 locally negotiated collective bargaining agreements with more than one dozen different labor unions. Approximately 13,700 employees have elected to work under labor union contracts.