Developing Data-Driven, Innovative Solutions
COVID-19 Disparities in the Community
Sutter’s Community Health and Health Equity efforts have led to collaboration with and support of community-based programs that expanded testing, contact tracing and vaccination for the most vulnerable in our community.
Unconscious Bias Training
We are leading efforts throughout the Sutter network to provide access to unconscious bias training for clinicians. We also aim to improve effectiveness through rigorous evaluation.
COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Solutions
We’ve developed a novel metric, the COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Index (CVEI), to track and achieve vaccine equity among vulnerable populations. Our system has used this index to inform our targets for vaccine equity, adjusting goals to reflect the disproportionate burden of infection and hospitalizations by some patient groups. We are implementing targeted, meaningful strategies to address and close the identified equity gaps. The metric can be of great value to other health systems and county or state agencies as they create strategies for mass vaccination.
Maternal Health Equity Innovation Lab
We’ve formed the Health Equity Innovation Lab for Maternal Health Equity, which is dedicated specifically to childbirth inequities. By accelerating the cycle of innovation and research to advance maternal health equity solutions, we can help ensure access to care and optimal maternal and infant outcomes for all. We’re currently working on several pilots that focus on closing identified equity gaps in breast feeding, perinatal and postpartum depression screening, doula support, and improving access to resources among at-risk pregnant patients, among others.
Diabetes in Salinas' Latino Community
Sutter’s HEI helped Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System identify patient populations at higher risk for diabetes, leading to investments in programs like new diabetes clinics and bilingual certified diabetic educators.
Asthma in Oakland's African American Community
Sutter’s HEI identified higher-than-expected rates of emergency visits for asthma among African American patients. Aiming to address this, Sutter collaborated to create a community-based program for African American patients in East Oakland and Berkeley to support asthma management.
Patient Stories
The following is a collection of stories that demonstrates our health equity work in action.
Care Begins with Trust
Christina Washington describes how she’s better managing her asthma thanks to the support of a collaborative program between LifeLong Medical Care and Sutter Heath.
When Baby Comes Early
Evandro and Joyce are grateful for the care they received during the premature birth and NICU care of their son at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (part of Sutter Health network) in Berkeley.
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The Institute for Advancing Health Equity
would love to hear from you
We believe that as a provider network we must do all we can to advance health equity, and we are committed to collaborating with others throughout the state and nation in these efforts. (Please don’t include any patient health information in the email)