Sutter Health Board of Directors

Entry-level jobs in care facilities for frail older people and patients with severe mental illness helped to shape Sarah Krevans' commitment to improve the lives of others. Choosing a career path in healthcare administration, she earned master's degrees in business administration and public health from the University of California, Berkeley, after receiving a bachelor's degree from Boston University.

At 29, she was appointed acting director of Medicaid, health planning and licensure programs, for the state of Maine after serving as deputy director of the state's Bureau of Medical Services.

A native of Baltimore, Krevans returned to California in 1987 to join Kaiser Permanente, where she held increasingly responsible positions, including the role of senior vice president and area manager of Kaiser's expansive Valley Service Area.

In 1999, Krevans joined the not-for-profit Sutter Health network as senior vice president of managed care. From 2000 to 2011, she served as regional executive officer and president of the Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region. In 2012, Krevans was appointed to the position of chief operating officer. She became president and CEO of Sutter Health in January 2016.

Herbert (Gubby) Brereton Barlow, former CEO of Premera Blue Cross, joined Sutter’s board of directors in February 2017. Prior to holding senior leadership positions as CEO, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Premera Blue Cross in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. for almost two decades, Barlow served as chief financial officer and senior vice president at AHI Healthcare Systems in Downey, Calif. He previously served as chief financial officer and held other senior leadership positions at Health Net in Woodland Hills, Calif. Prior to joining Health Net, Barlow was a partner with Deloitte & Touche, where he specialized in auditing and accounting, and assisting clients in mergers and acquisitions.

Barlow’s past healthcare industry leadership includes the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Board of Directors, National Institute of Health Care Management Board, Seattle University College of Nursing Advisory Board, Washington Healthcare Forum Board and the Center for Corporate Innovation.

Biography coming soon.

James Ferrara, M.D., joined the Sutter Health Board of Directors in 2017. He is a pediatrician at Sutter Health's Palo Alto Medical Foundation and has been in pediatric practice for 31 years. Dr. Ferrara also serves on the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Group's Board of Directors. He was a member of the Peninsula Medical Clinic Board of Directors from 2010- 2017 and served as its president from 2015-2017.

Dr. Ferrara previously served on the San Mateo Independent Physician Association Board of Directors, the Mills-Peninsula Medical Group Board of Directors, the Peninsula Medical Group Board of Directors, and the Mills-Peninsula Health Services Board of Directors.

Dr. Ferrara served as CEO of Bay Area Pediatrics from 1998-2010. He was the Northern California regional medical director and vice president of business development for MedPartners/Mullikin from 1995-1998.

Dr. Ferrara earned his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine, and completed both his residency and internship at Children's Hospital, San Francisco.

Michael Gaulke is chair of the Sutter Health Board. He is the past chairman of Exponent, Inc. For 26 years, he held senior management and board roles at Exponent, Inc., including 13 years as CEO of the organization, which specializes in engineering and scientific consulting. Before joining Exponent, Gaulke served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Raynet Corporation, a fiber-to-the-curb telecommunications company. Earlier in his career, he was a senior executive at Spectra-Physics and a consultant with McKinsey & Company. In 2008, Oregon State University inducted Gaulke into its Engineering Hall of Fame.

For 30 years, Gaulke has focused on advancing healthcare quality and access as a board of trustees member of Sutter-affiliated Palo Alto Medical Foundation. He also currently serves as a member of Sutter’s Bay Area Board of Directors.

Vinita Gupta, founder and chairman of Digital Link Corporation, joined Sutter’s board of directors in January 2017. Digital Link, which engaged in the design, manufacture, marketing and support of digital wide-area network access products for global networks, went public in 1994 and was later renamed as Quick Eagle Networks. Gupta still serves as chairman, chief executive officer and president. In her early career, Gupta worked as an engineer for GTE Lenkurt and later held engineering management positions at Bell Northern Research (now part of Nortel Networks). Gupta holds two U.S. patents—one for solid state relay, issued in 1984, and another for a square root circuit, issued in 1986.

After serving on the Sutter Health West Bay Region board of directors, Peter Jacobi joined Sutter's board of directors in January 2011.

Applying his experience in international business from nearly 30 years with Levi Strauss & Company, Jacobi also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Crocs, Inc., a casual shoe manufacturer.

His leadership led him to serve on a number of not-for-profit boards, including the Levi Strauss Foundation, the Prince of Wales Business Leadership Forum, the Michigan School of Engineering, the President's Advisory Board of San Jose State University, The New Hampton School board of trustees and the Marin Theatre Company.

Sharon McCollam served as executive vice president, chief administrative and chief financial officer of Best Buy Co., Inc., from 2012 to 2017, where she oversaw all aspects of global finance, information technology, supply chain, customer care, real estate, store development, enterprise shared services and Mexico operations.

Previously, she served as executive vice president, chief operating and chief financial officer of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., a $4 billion publicly traded specialty retailer of home goods. McCollam joined Williams-Sonoma in 2000, was promoted to the role of chief operating and chief financial officer in 2006, and was appointed to the company’s board of directors in 2010. She retired from the company in 2012.

From 1993 to 2000, McCollam held various finance-related executive positions at Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc., including chief financial officer, and vice president and controller.

In addition to the Sutter Health Board of Directors, McCollam serves on the boards of Stitch Fix, PetSmart, Hallmark Cards, Art.com and ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She is a past board member of Del Monte Foods, Office Max, Privalia Venta Directa S.A., Whole Foods Market and Williams-Sonoma. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma and is a licensed certified public accountant.

A longtime executive with AT&T, Kenneth (Ken) McNeely joined the Sutter Health Board of Directors in 2017. McNeely was appointed to his current role of President, AT&T California in 2005 and has been with AT&T since 1991.

From 2000-2005, his roles within AT&T included President, AT&T Communications, California; Vice President, Law & Government Affairs, Pacific Region; Vice President, Law & Government Affairs, Florida; and Corporate Attorney, Atlanta.

In addition to the Sutter Health Board of Directors, McNeely serves as a board member for the Bay Area Council, California Chamber of Commerce, California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy, California State University Foundation, San Francisco Day School, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

McNeely earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. from Howard University School of Law.

Cofounder of Metropolitan Real Estate Equity Management in New York and founder of Metropolitan Real Estate Advisors in San Francisco, David Nasaw has more than 40 years of real estate investment experience.

The two firms manage more than $3 billion of equity in residential, commercial and industrial properties in the United States, Europe and Asia. Nasaw graduated from Northwestern University and holds a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Robert Peabody, M.D. is a board-certified ophthalmologist with more than two decades of medical experience. He earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and medical degree from The George Washington University School of Medicine. He completed his internship at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and residency at Texas Tech University.

Dr. Peabody practices within Medical Vision Technology, Inc., a full-service eye care group with offices in Davis, Roseville and Sacramento. In addition to seeing patients in his full-time clinic, Dr. Peabody has served as the group’s president since 1989. He has extensive experience as a consultant and he’s advised on medical and legal cases, acted as an expert witness, and provided patient examinations for workers' compensation, malpractice and civil cases.

Dr. Peabody serves in a number of leadership roles at various Sutter Health affiliates, including steering committee member and Ophthalmology Department chair for Sutter Physicians Alliance. Since 2003, he has served on several Sutter Independent Physicians committees, including appointment to the board in 2006 and election as board chairperson in 2009. Dr. Peabody also participates on the boards of Fort Sutter Surgery Center and Sutter Outpatient Services.

A long-time executive with the internationally respected Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cheryl Scott joined the Sutter Health board of directors in November 2016. Until she retired in July 2016, Scott was the Gates Foundation’s senior advisor, providing strategy counsel and support. She joined the Foundation in 2006 as chief operating officer, overseeing all major operational functions. Scott currently serves as principal at the McClintock Scott Group.

Prior to joining the Gates Foundation, Scott was president and CEO of Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative, a member-governed, non-profit healthcare system that coordinates care and coverage for more than 600,000 residents of Washington and North Idaho. Her eight-year tenure as CEO capped a distinguished 25-year career with Group Health, where she also served as executive vice president and chief operating officer. In 2005, the University of Washington and Group Health created the Cheryl M. Scott/Group Health Cooperative Professorship in Health Care Leadership in the School of Public Health.

A family medicine physician and site director of the Davis track of the Sutter Health Family Medicine Residency Program, Joan Smith-Maclean, M.D. served on the Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region board of trustees from 2000 to 2011. She is a former chief of staff at Sutter Davis Hospital and has been a member of the Medical Executive Committee since 1992. A Davis native and longtime family medicine physician in Yolo County, Dr. Smith-Maclean helped establish Davis-based Sutter West Medical Group and served on its board of directors for many years. She helped to found the Sutter Health Family Medicine Residency program and is a clinical professor of family and community medicine at University of California, Davis.

Dr. Smith-Maclean holds both a bachelor's and master's degree from University of California, Davis, and is a graduate of the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University.

Barry Williams is the retired managing general partner of Williams Pacific Ventures, a venture investment and consulting firm based in San Francisco. He previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Bechtel Investments and served as CEO of the American Management Association.

Mr. Williams has participated on the boards of several healthcare institutions, as well as several corporate boards. He is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School.