Community Health Leader

Offered Shelter, Community and Hope at a New Center in Berkeley

We know by working together to find solutions, we can improve community health and have a positive, powerful effect on people's lives. That's why we were pleased to invest in the construction and operation of Berkeley's Hope Center, a six-story, 150,000-square-foot building designed to serve the city's low-income, disabled and chronically homeless population. It offers on-site support services, a 32-bed temporary shelter, a 12-bed transitional housing dormitory for veterans and 53 permanent supportive housing studio apartments. By helping people like Lonnie Ray, pictured to the left in his kitchen at Hope Center, we're playing an important part in Berkeley's effort to offer permanent, stable housing for the estimated 1,000 residents experiencing homelessness within its borders.

Helped Create a Wellness Clinic at a Sacramento-area High School

In 2023, Neighborhood Wellness Foundation, Twin Rivers Unified School District, Sacramento Native American Health Center and Sutter Health created a unique health center on the campus of Grant Union High School in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood to support students' wellness needs. At no cost to students, Pacers Take Space provides behavioral health counseling, health check-ups and education, vaccinations and other services. A Medi-Cal enrollment office is also on site to further increase access to care for hundreds of young people.

Supported Growing Families Through Our Pediatric Navigators Program

Pediatric navigators at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento helped ensure growing families in 2023 had what they need to feel confident and cared for after they leave the hospital. Research by Community HealthWorks, the local nonprofit that employs the pediatric navigators with Sutter's support, shows that 94% of the families served were connected to their first newborn appointment before leaving the hospital—with more than 2,100 newborns added to Medi-Cal for continuity of care. Working alongside trusted community partners enables Sutter Health to surround new moms and their babies with resources to improve healthcare access and reduce potential barriers to care. This is just one way we bring care to where people are and expand access to care both inside and outside the walls of the hospital.

Generous Donors Powered a Record Year for Philanthropy

People and organizations gave in record numbers to Sutter Health in 2023 to help us fulfill our not-for-profit mission of improving people's lives and creating healthier communities. Donations for the year surpassed $100 million for the first time ever, helping us invest across our organization to serve more patients and directly enhance the quality of care that future patients experience.

Among the year's highlights: Thanks to a generous $5 million gift from the Philanthropic Foundation of Grateful Patients, and Napa Valley residents Jim and Carol White, Sutter Health will establish a research endowment dedicated to translational sciences in cardiovascular disease—the first of its kind at Sutter Health in our 100-year history. Donors in 2023 also helped us start Endowed Chairs in cardiology and oncology, which advances our research and treatment modalities for patients. One $5 million gift supports our new Innovation Center and the award-winning mental health support app Scout by Sutter Health. Our mental health programs in the Sacramento area and the Bay Area were also supported through other gifts designated for expanding access to services and providing more coordinated care by embedding clinical psychologists in primary care. We are so thankful for these and so many other gifts supporting innovations in pediatric services, women's and children's care, music and pet therapy, transplant services, genetic testing and so much more.

Sutter Sponsored San Francisco's International Stage at APEC

Sutter was a proud sponsor of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in San Francisco in November that brought together leaders representing 21 member countries to delve into conversations about trade, economic growth and global initiatives. Sutter Health leaders joined discussions about the future of healthcare and innovation in partnership with the Bay Area Council. Sutter has been deeply committed to San Francisco and the health of the community for more than 100 years.

Provided a Path Forward for Unhoused Davis Residents

We partnered with others to offer major financial support to Paul's Place, an innovative vertical tiny home village in Davis that opened in 2023 and is operated by Davis Community Meals and Housing. The four-story building provides needed services and emergency, transitional and permanent supportive housing for at-risk and homeless individuals and families living in Davis. Communal spaces include laundry, kitchen and sitting areas.

Invested More than $310,000 to Support Community Holiday Food Banks

As a not-for-profit health system, we know that consistent access to wholesome, nutritious foods is one of the building blocks of good health and can help sustain the foundation for a healthier community long-term. During the 2023 holiday season, we provided more than $300,000 to 30 local food banks, an investment enabling them to provide healthy meals and food items to those in need. Our investments in community food banks over the past 10 holiday seasons total more than $2.8 million. We also collaborate with area food banks and other local agencies throughout the year, investing millions more to help support healthy, nutritious eating. Some examples include the Sutter Health Nutrition Center with Yolo Food Bank and the "Food as Medicine" program that connects anyone who is hospitalized and shows signs of food insecurity or malnourishment with the Interfaith Food Bank of Amador County.

Free Festival Celebrated Hospital's 100-Year History in Sacramento

Thousands of our patients and their families, neighbors, donors, and Sutter physicians and staff helped Sutter Medical Center Sacramento celebrate its 100th anniversary in October. It was all part of our Fall Festival, where we recognized Sutter's century-long commitment to caring in Sacramento and honored our entire organization's past, present and future.