Community Leader Ralph Andersen, Elected Chair of Sutter Health Board of Directors

SACRAMENTO, Calif., January 17, 2003 - Northern California business and community leader, Ralph Andersen, has been elected chairperson of the board of directors for Sutter Health, a not-for-profit network of community-based health care providers. A member of the Sutter board since 1994, Andersen replaces Dennis O'Connell of Marin County, who held the chair position for three years.

Andersen assumes leadership at a time when Sutter Health is redoubling its efforts to preserve and enhance access to health services throughout Northern California. In response to community need, the organization announced plans in 2002 to invest approximately $3.5 billion over the next 15 years to improve or replace dozens of community-based hospitals and outpatient care facilities and to expand physician services throughout the region.

"Ralph holds a deep understanding of our state's challenging health care environment and thorough knowledge of our not-for-profit network," said Sutter Health President and Chief Executive Officer Van R. Johnson. "Our patients and communities will benefit from his sincere commitment to ensuring that quality, accessible health services be preserved and improved for generations to come," he said.

The Sutter Health board of directors oversees the not-for-profit organization, which supports the delivery of health care in more than 100 Northern California communities. It is comprised of community leaders from throughout the region. In addition, local or regional boards — whose members include unpaid volunteers representing the communities served — govern each of Sutter's hospitals and medical foundations.

A native of San Leandro and a resident of Sacramento, Andersen founded Ralph Andersen and Associates, a national private consulting firm with offices in California and Texas. In 1987 Andersen sold the firm and retired to a career of community service.

He holds a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in public administration from the University of California, Berkeley. Andersen has served on the boards of directors of the Junior Statesmen Foundation, the University of California, Berkeley Foundation, and the Salvation Army. In 2002, he was honored as Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser at the seventeenth annual National Philanthropy Day luncheon in Sacramento.

Sutter Health is one of the nation's leading not-for-profit networks of community-based health care providers, delivering high-quality care in more than 100 Northern California communities. It is also 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 as well as physician organizations; medical research facilities; regionwide home health, hospice and occupational health networks; and long-term care centers.

Contact
Karen Garner
916-286-8297
Garnerk@sutterhealth.org