Sutter Health Senior Leadership

Sarah Krevans

President and Chief Executive Officer

As president and CEO of Sutter Health, Sarah Krevans leads the network’s 24 hospitals, 53,000 employees, 14,000 clinicians, outpatient services, research facilities, home health and hospice care services, and business professionals. Under her guidance, Sutter Health is exploring new technologies and embracing creative, community-based healthcare programs to make healthcare more accessible, affordable, efficient and convenient for more than 3 million patients.

Recognizing her outstanding leadership, Krevans was named one of the “Top 25 Women Leaders” by Modern Healthcare, included on Modern Healthcare’s list of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare,” nominated as a “Visionary of the Year” by the San Francisco Chronicle and named one of the “Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Times.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University, and earned an MBA and a master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.

James Conforti

Chief Operating Officer

James Conforti oversees the day-to-day operations of Sutter Health’s integrated network in Northern California, working to make Sutter’s healthcare more human, engaging, affordable and simple for Sutter’s patients. Sutter’s philanthropy and information services are also guided by his leadership.

Prior to joining Sutter Health, Conforti served for nine years in the U.S. Army as a Medical Service Corps officer, stationed stateside and internationally to help soldiers and their families with medical needs.

He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a board certified medical practice executive with the Medical Group Management Association. He also sits on the board of the California Business Roundtable and the Greater Sacramento Area Economic Council.

Conforti has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from University of Washington and a master’s in health science, health finance and management from Johns Hopkins University.

Rishi Sikka, M.D.

President, System Enterprises

As President of System Enterprises for Sutter Health, Rishi Sikka, M.D. brings a deep commitment to improving the lives of others and a strong vision for a better patient experience to his role overseeing key integrated services.

Dr. Sikka provides executive oversight of Facility & Property Services, Health Plan Products & Partnerships, Laboratory Services, Mental Health & Addiction Care, Pharmacy Services, Sutter Care at Home, Sutter Surgery Center Division, Sutter Walk-In Care and Sutter Shared Services (including functions like the patient contact center, finance, human resources, revenue cycle and supply chain).

He also led the establishment of Sutter’s Population Health Services, a new division within System Enterprises focused on further improving care quality, service coordination and care consistencies, and reducing total cost of care.

Dr. Sikka earned his bachelor’s degree in economics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from the Mayo Clinic Medical School. He was on faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Medicine and Boston University School of Medicine. He is co-author of the book, “Leading Healthcare Transformation: A Primer for Clinical Leaders,” and has written for the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review.

Jill Ragsdale

Senior Vice President and Chief People and Culture Officer

With caring and compassion at the forefront, Jill Ragsdale and her teams are responsible for the programs and systems that empower staff to provide excellent and compassionate patient care and ensure patients receive high-quality, affordable healthcare services.  As the leader for Human Resources, Enterprise Transformation, Public Affairs (Public Policy, Government Relations, Community Benefit, Communications, Marketing) and Protective Services, Ragsdale leads teams that are at the center of Sutter Health’s diverse culture and environment.

From 1995 to 2008 she worked at Sutter Health as director of human resources and later vice president, human resources.  In 2008, she returned to the Mayo Clinic where she had launched her career, and served as Mayo’s chief human resources officer for eight years, before returning to Sutter Health in 2015.

Ragsdale earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and religion, and a master’s degree in industrial relations/human resources from the University of Iowa.

Brian Dean

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer, Brian Dean is responsible for the financial operations of Sutter Health, and oversees financial reporting, treasury, managed care, strategy and business development.

Dean joined Sutter Health in July 2020 from Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas, where he most recently served as that organization’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. There he was a key strategic partner in developing transformative business models to elevate the system’s capabilities around operational excellence, care delivery and innovation, while balancing the need for cost containment and strategic growth.

He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Texas Hospital Association, Healthcare Financial Management Association, and Angel Flight Southeast Texas.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky, an MBA from the University of Miami, and a master’s in public health in health administration from the University of Kentucky.

Florence L. Di Benedetto

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Prior to joining Sutter Health in 2008, Di Benedetto was a senior partner of the Sacramento-based law firm Hunter Richey Di Benedetto & Eisenbeis LLP for 20 years.  She started the firm’s litigation practice and chaired the litigation section. She then served more than 10 years as the firm’s health law section senior partner, representing clients across California.

Di Benedetto earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University and studied economics and economic planning at London University and the Central School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw, Poland.  She earned her law degree from the University of San Francisco and a master’s in health services management from Golden Gate University.

For many years, Di Benedetto served in the leadership ranks of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, including serving as board chair in 2005-2006.

Stephen Lockhart, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Stephen Lockhart, M.D., Ph.D., directs the quality and safety of Sutter’s patient care and oversees the research and education that drives Sutter Health’s innovation and healthcare advancement. Dr. Lockhart brings 30 years of impressive experience to Sutter Health’s integrated network — hospital administrator, board-certified anesthesiologist, university professor, published author and nationally recognized environmental steward and humanitarian.

Dr. Lockhart is dedicated to understanding and addressing health equity as a key measure of healthcare quality. Most recently, he led the development and implementation of Sutter’s Health Equity Index, a groundbreaking tool that uses real-time health system data and external statistics to identify healthcare disparities and address their underlying causes.

Dr. Lockhart was named in 2019 to the California Surgeon General’s Advisory Council focused on the study of adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Dr. Lockhart also served on Gov. Brown’s Advisory Committee on Precision Medicine as part of California’s continued effort to use advanced computing and technology to better understand, treat and prevent disease. He was featured by Becker's Healthcare in 2020 on their list of the "100 hospital and health system chief medical officers to know."

He serves on the boards of the ECRI Institute, REI, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and is chairman of Parks California. A Rhodes scholar, Dr. Lockhart earned his master’s in economics at Oxford University and received his medical and doctoral degrees from Cornell University.

Conrad M. Vial, M.D.

Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer

As Sutter Health’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Vial oversees all facets of the organization’s clinical operations, including clinical strategy, research and graduate medical education, quality and safety, digital patient engagement and patient experience.

Dr. Vial is a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon who has held various leadership roles in multi-specialty medical group practice and integrated healthcare delivery. From the clinical practice perspective, Dr. Vial is particularly interested in structural heart disease, focusing on minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery and catheter-based valve repair and replacement. 

Dr. Vial received his bachelor’s degree and medical doctorate from Stanford University. He earned a master’s of philosophy at Cambridge University in England, while also completing a postdoctoral fellowship in transplant immunology. He conducted his general surgical and cardiothoracic surgical training at Stanford University Medical Center.  He has been board certified in both general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery.

William M. Isenberg, M.D., Ph.D.

Vice President and Chief Quality and Safety Officer

As Chief Quality and Safety Officer, Dr. Isenberg oversees the quality and safety of care provided across Sutter Health’s integrated healthcare network. He directs the use of error prevention tools and other high reliability strategies to keep patients and staff safe while optimizing quality outcomes. Dr. Isenberg led the clinical aspects of Sutter’s EHR implementation at all acute care facilities and continues to oversee the use of clinical informatics to gather data, information and knowledge that will enhance patient care and improve clinicians’ experiences through systems redesign.

Dr. Isenberg, a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist, is a member of the board of directors of the Hospital Quality Institute of California, and co-chairs the Healthcare committee of the Bay Area Council.

Dr. Isenberg earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, and his doctorate in experimental pathology from UCSF.  Following his postdoctoral years at the Gladstone Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, he earned his medical degree at UCSF, where he also completed his OB/Gyn residency and subsequent research fellowship.

Anna Kiger

Vice President and Chief Nurse Officer

As Sutter Health’s first chief nurse officer, Anna Kiger, DNP, R.N. is accountable for executive nursing leadership, clinical nursing practice, education, and nursing research.  In addition, she serves on the Samuel Merritt University Board of Regents.

Kiger earned her bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University School of Nursing, and a master’s degree in nursing from Duquesne University, and an MBA from Averett University. She holds a doctorate in nursing practice from Texas Tech University School of Nursing; and a doctorate of science in public health, health systems management, from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Kiger serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Nursing Administration, and serves on the boards of the MedicAlert Foundation in Turlock and HealthImpact in Oakland.

Phil Jackson

CEO, Health Plan Products

As CEO of Health Plan Products, Phil Jackson oversees Sutter Health Plus, a commercial HMO, and the Sutter Health | Aetna joint venture, as well as Sutter’s overall payer strategy.

Jackson spent nearly 30 years with Washington-based Providence St. Joseph Health, the nation’s third largest not-for-profit health system in health plan, medical group and delivery system roles. Phil served as president and CEO of Oregon’s Health CO-OP, a nonprofit, consumer-oriented health plan, before joining the Sutter team.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Portland State University and a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Chris Waugh

Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer

As Sutter Health’s first Chief Innovation Officer, Chris Waugh applies his extensive experience in human-centered design to guide the integrated network’s innovation strategy. Human-centered design is a creative approach that seeks personalized solutions to meet individual needs — understanding people and their behaviors, identifying trends and exploring solutions that improve a person’s healthcare experience — in order to make healthcare more usable and accessible for patients, doctors and nurses.

Before joining Sutter Health, Waugh held entrepreneurial leadership roles at IDEO, a globally regarded Bay Area design and innovation firm, and was vice president of design at One Medical Group in San Francisco where he helped create a culture of innovation.

Waugh graduated from Fort Lewis College in Colorado, with bachelor’s degrees in international business and French.

Albert Chan, M.D., M.S., FAAFP

Vice President and Chief of Digital Patient Experience

As Chief of Digital Patient Experience, Dr. Albert Chan champions the Sutter Health network’s transformation of web and mobile healthcare services, translating advancements in digital health into positive patient experiences and electronic workflows for clinicians.

Under his leadership, Sutter implemented My Health Online, which securely connects patients to their doctor via video visits and messaging. My Health Online provides patients with secure access to health records and allows users to check medical symptoms, schedule appointments online and view lab and test results.

Dr. Chan earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego, and his bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Stanford University. He completed his residency and year as chief resident in family medicine at the San Jose Medical Center Family Practice Residency, affiliated with Stanford University of School of Medicine. He concurrently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine in biomedical informatics, and family medicine research at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.

Leon Clark

Vice President and Chief Research and Health Equity Officer

As Chief Research and Equity Officer, Leon Clark oversees Sutter’s research program, provides support to Samuel Merritt University, and is working closely with Dr. Stephen Lockhart on Sutter’s health equity initiative until Dr. Lockhart retires in January.

Prior to joining Sutter Health, Clark spent more than 20 years at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. For the past decade, he served as chairman of Mayo’s research administration department where he was instrumental in the re-imagination of research and educational activities to advance patient care.

Clark earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from DePaul University in Chicago. He is a certified Quality Fellow by the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

Grace Davis

Vice President and Chief Public Affairs Officer

As Chief Public Affairs Officer, Grace Davis leads the comprehensive public affairs strategy that builds on Sutter Health’s strong community ties and not-for-profit mission to improve health and well-being through compassionate, excellent healthcare services. In this role, she oversees the integrated public affairs/communications/marketing team which includes all of the following: public relations, external communications, executive and internal communications, physician engagement, community benefit, issues management and marketing for Sutter Health.

In 2017, she joined Sutter Health from Intel Corporation, where she spent 17 years in a series of leadership roles within the company. She most recently oversaw public affairs for Intel’s manufacturing and employment footprint in the United States and overseas markets, including China, Southeast Asia, Israel, Ireland and Latin America.

Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from San Jose State University.

Linda Khachadourian

Chief Enterprise Transformation Officer

As Chief Enterprise Transformation Officer, Linda Khachadourian helps drive execution of Sutter Health’s strategy. She translates long-term strategies into yearly initiatives and metrics and oversees large-scale initiatives. She works to develop and spread standards that help increase value for patients by making work processes more efficient. She is also responsible for supporting the governance program for boards of directors across the system.

Before joining Sutter Health in 1989, Khachadourian worked two years in marketing and planning at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno.

She earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from California State University, Fresno.