Sutter Health is a not-for-profit
integrated health delivery system headquartered in
Sacramento, California
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
. It operates 24 acute care hospitals and over 200 clinics in
Northern California
Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...
.
Sutter Hospital Association was founded in 1921 as a response to the
1918 flu pandemic
The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...
. Named for nearby
Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican ''Alta California'' province. Established in 1839, the site of the fort was originally part of a utopian colonial project called New Helvetia (''New Switzerland'') ...
, its first hospital opened in 1923. Later known as Sutter Community Hospitals, the organization eventually merged with several struggling hospitals in the surrounding area.
History
Origins
The organization takes its name from one of
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
’s original European settlements, Sutter's Fort, built by California pioneer
John Sutter
John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Switzerland, Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter ...
. In response to the
1918 flu pandemic
The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...
, 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 hospitals date back to the 1800s and were some of Northern California's earliest healthcare providers. For example,
California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco was formed out of the successive hospital and medical school mergers dating back to the city's earliest days of organized medicine. The predecessor of today's Sutter
Santa Rosa Regional Hospital opened its doors to residents of
Sonoma County
Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa.
Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...
in 1866.
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 (physician organizations), and numerous outpatient care centers throughout Northern California.
In 1986, Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, Mills-Peninsula Hospital in
San Mateo, and Marin General Hospital in
Greenbrae created an affiliation known as California Healthcare System (CHS). Berkeley-based Alta Bates Corporation (now known as
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center) 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, California Healthcare System merged with Sutter Health.
21st Century
The new century brought advances in healthcare technology. Sutter Health was among the first health systems in the United States to install barcode medication safety technology and an electronic intensive care unit.
In 2016, Sutter Health became the jersey sponsor of the
San Jose Earthquakes
The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...
. In 2019, the
Sacramento River Cats
The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland ...
stadium was renamed
Sutter Health Park
Sutter Health Park is a ballpark in West Sacramento, California, directly adjacent to Downtown Sacramento, downtown Sacramento, California, Sacramento. It is the home of the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the tem ...
.
Hospitals and Medical Foundations
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.
Hospitals
*Sutter
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (
East Bay
The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...
)
**Alta Bates (Ashby) Campus (
Berkeley)
**Herrick Campus (
Berkeley)
**Summit Campus (
Oakland
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
)
*Sutter Amador Hospital (
Jackson)
* Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital
* Sutter
California Pacific Medical Center (
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
)
**Davies Campus
**Mission Bernal Campus
**Van Ness Campus
*Sutter Center for Psychiatry (
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
)
* Sutter Coast Hospital (
Crescent City)
* Sutter Davis Hospital
*
Sutter Delta Medical Center (
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
)
* Sutter Eden Medical Center (
Castro Valley
Castro Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Alameda County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, it was the fourth most populous unincorporated area in California. The population was 66,441 at the 2020 census.
Castro Valley is ...
)
*Sutter Lakeside Hospital (
Lakeport)
* Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz
* Sutter Memorial Hospital Los Banos
*Sutter
Memorial Medical Center (
Modesto
Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California.
Modesto is locate ...
)
*
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
*Sutter
Mills-Peninsula Medical Center (
Burlingame)
*Sutter Novato Community Hospital
*Sutter Roseville Medical Center
*Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
*
Sutter Solano Medical Center (
Vallejo)
* Sutter Surgical Hospital North Valley (
Yuba City)
*Sutter Tracy Community Hospital
Medical Foundations
*Sutter Medical Foundation
*Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation
*Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation
* Sutter Gould Medical Foundation
*
Sutter Health Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF)
* Sutter
Sansum Clinic
Other Services
* Sutter Care at Home
*Sutter Walk-In Care
Past and future changes
In 2010, Marin General Hospital (now MarinHealth Medical Center) left Sutter Health to operate independently under the Marin Healthcare District.
In 2016, Sutter Health informed Berkeley's mayor of its plans to close Alta Bates by 2030 and relocate its services to the Oakland branch. The reason provided for the move was the infeasibility of the required seismic upgrades for the hospital. In 2025, Sutter announced it would replace Alta Bates with a new campus set to open in
Emeryville in 2030.
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 (bariatrics).
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
An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...
in 2013,
Sutter ran the only pediatric emergency department in San Francisco.
Scout by Sutter Health is a 12-week, nonclinical program targeted at people aged 12 to 26 designed to help them deal with anxiety, depression, and stress. It has weekly screenings for anxiety and depression. Personalized content is determined by their responses to the screenings. Modules are also sent to caregivers, mostly parents. Exercises are offered. Nonclinical guides are provided by Boston-based Docent Health. In 2022,
Ada Health was integrated into the program.
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 several independent healthcare quality organizations. For example:
* 2016,
Truven Health Analytics
Merative L.P., formerly IBM Watson Health, is an American medical technology company that provides products and services that help clients facilitate medical research, clinical research, real world evidence, and healthcare services, through the ...
named Sutter Health among the top-performing health systems in the country in its 15 Top Health Systems study.
* 2013, Sutter Davis Hospital became the first Northern California hospital to receive the
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the highest formal recognition of the performance excellen ...
, the nation's highest presidential honor for performance excellence through innovation, improvement, and visionary leadership.
*2007, the
Lewin Group ranked Sutter Health as the top healthcare system in California for quality and 30th in the United States.
* 2009,
SDI Health ranked Sutter Health fifth among the "Top 100" integrated healthcare networks in the United States.
* 2008, the
Integrated Healthcare Association recognized several Sutter Health affiliates for accomplishments in areas of clinical care including heart care, preventive care, chronic care management, pneumonia, patient satisfaction and use of information technology.
* 2007, the Adaptive Business Leaders organization named Sutter Health's eICU as the most innovative approach to health care delivery.
In 2014,
Jonathan Rauch wrote for the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...
and ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
'' about Sutter Health's Advanced Illness Management (AIM) 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.
In 2020,
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
ran a story about how the Sutter Health system increased health care costs in California.
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, along with several other health systems, it reached settlement agreements in
class-action
A class action
A class action is a form of lawsuit.
Class Action may also refer to:
* ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
* Class Action (band), a garage house band
* "Class Action" (''Teenage R ...
lawsuits related to the billing of uninsured patients.
In 2012, Sutter Health was sued for allegedly violating
antitrust laws by engaging in
anticompetitive practices leading to higher prices for
health insurance premiums paid by both individuals and employers. In 2025, Sutter Health agreed to pay $228.5 million to settle the class-action lawsuit, with approximately 3 million people being eligible for payment from the settlement fund.
In 2014, the
United Food and Commercial Workers
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a trade union, labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufa ...
(UFCW) union & Employers Benefit Trust (UEBT) filed a class action antitrust lawsuit against Sutter Health. In 2018, California Attorney General
Xavier Becerra 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.
In April 2022 over 8,000 nurses and other healthcare workers in 15 Northern California Sutter Health facilities represented by the
California Nurses Association and affiliates struck for one day, asking for "safer staffing levels" and other contract demands. Sutter locked out the striking workers for a week.
See also
*
Healthcare in California
References
External links
Sutter Health Web site{{authority control
Hospital networks in the United States
Medical and health organizations based in California
Hospitals in California
Healthcare in California