Jeff Gerard (Region President, Sutter Health Peninsula Coastal Region):
Our organization has a rich history and a bright future. It's a wonderful industry to be involved in. The funding levels in health care are enough to provide an average level of care. What allows our organization to continue to deliver care that is not average, but exceptional, is the support of our community—the contributions that individuals make.
The contributions impact care in a variety of ways. They allow us to have the very best technology. They allow us to recruit the very best and brightest for our clinical team. That has an impact on your family and the community that you reside in—and it has an impact on the broader community by being an example for others to follow.
We are focused on being as cost-effective as possible. We're doing that by making sure that we’re removing waste—unnecessary services that aren't essential to the excellence we provide. Health care, in general, is amazingly complex, and it's amazingly fragmented. Our goal is to have an integration of care—a care delivery model designed around the collective clinical knowledge of the thousands of physicians and staff we have in our organization. Our electronic health record provides a level of continuity that is second to none.
The future environment is going to be very challenging, but I have no doubt that our organization will continue to lead by example—and that the generosity of our community will allow us to deliver the care that is essential for our patients, for our community and for the country.
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