Sutter Health Announces 2001 Financial Performance

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sutter Health, one of Northern California's leading not-for-profit health care networks, announced that 2001 systemwide income from the day-to-day operations of its hospitals, physician care centers and other services was $53 million, compared to $30 million in 2000. Investment income of $48 million pushed Sutter's 2001 total operating income to $101 million, compared to $111 million in total operating income, including investment income, in 2000. As a not-for-profit, community-based organization, Sutter Health reinvests any earnings it achieves into the preservation and improvement of health care services, rather than rewarding private investors.

During 2001, Sutter Health spent a record $417 million on services for the poor and underserved and on benefits for the broader community, up from $305 million in 2000. This represents nearly 11 percent of Sutter's $4 billion in net patient revenues for the year, and includes charity care, the unpaid costs of participating in public programs including MediCal and Medicare, and also includes investments in medical research, health education and community-based public benefit programs such as school-based clinics and prenatal care services.

Sutter announced in April that it expects to invest a combined $3.5 billion in outpatient, hospital and physician care center improvements over the next 15 years. However, keeping those projects on track will require the health care network to achieve significantly greater earnings in the coming years.

"Our communities told us what they will require to keep pace with their local health care needs, and we must do whatever we can to be able to make these critical investments to improve patient access and further enhance the delivery of care throughout our network," said Sutter Health CEO Van R. Johnson. "While our total income declined from 2000 to 2001, our revenues from the day-to-day operation of our facilities increased somewhat. This is a good sign, but we still have a ways to go."

Sutter Health is one of California's leading not-for-profit networks of community-based health care providers, delivering high-quality care in more than 100 Northern California communities. Sutter Health is the regional leader in infant deliveries, neonatology, orthopedics, pediatrics and cancer care services.

Sutter Health supports more than two dozen locally-run acute care hospitals and physician organizations, as well as medical research facilities, region-wide home health, hospice and occupational health networks, and long-term care centers.

Contact
Karen Garner
Communications Manager
916-286-8297

View the Sutter Health Year 2001 Audited Financials provided in Adobe PDF format.