SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sutter Health is proud to announce that Rishi Sikka, M.D., was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of this year’s 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives. The complete ranking is featured in the June 21 issue of Modern Healthcare, and profiles of the honorees are available at ModernHealthcare.com/50MostInfluential.

The recognition program acknowledges clinicians working in the healthcare industry who are deemed by their peers and an expert panel to be the most influential in terms of demonstrating leadership and impact. Clinical leadership is needed now, more than ever, to champion evidence-based approaches that will mitigate the impact of the pandemic and address the longstanding health inequities that have become even clearer as a result of the crisis.

“The 2021 class of 50 Most Influential Clinician Executives did not shy away from the challenges of caring for patient populations during a pandemic. They found inspiration in knocking down hurdles and fighting for top quality care for their patients and staff,” said Modern Healthcare editor, Aurora Aguilar. “They improved cancer screening outcomes by incorporating in-home test kits and secured more diversity for future clinician ranks. Modern Healthcare congratulates this class and appreciates their hard work.”

Dr. Sikka oversees several key areas within Sutter’s integrated, not-for-profit network that played key roles during the pandemic, including laboratory and pharmacy services, supply chain and population health. For example, in collaboration with other groups across Sutter, he and his teams:

• Acquired more than 35 million pieces of critical PPE, including masks, isolation gowns and face shields for patients and providers across the network
• Provided testing with the capacity to test thousands of patients per day during surges—ultimately performing a total of 700,000 tests in 2020
• Deployed a scalable vaccine infrastructure providing more than 800,000 vaccinations to patients to date

“This industry award is shared recognition of System Enterprises leaders and teams, and the incredible efforts they put forth on behalf of our patients and mission—most especially in this last year,” said Dr. Sikka. “And their successes are only possible through collaboration with the exceptional operational and clinical teams all across our network of care. I humbly accept this honor in celebration of our full Sutter Health team.”