A message from Sarah Krevans, Sutter Health President and CEO

Racism and discrimination have left a longstanding stain across America’s history, and in the past year, particularly since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, we have all witnessed the sharp rise of xenophobia, bigotry and violence against people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in our country. Stop AAPI Hate, a group that collects data about discrimination against Asian Americans, reports that over the past year nationwide nearly 3,800 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were the targets of hate incidents.

We at Sutter Health stand in solidarity with the AAPI community and condemn these acts of violence and xenophobia. I encourage everyone to support and raise your voice when you see any act of discrimination or bias.

Sutter Health President and CEO Sarah Krevans

I again want to reaffirm at Sutter Health, we value everyone, regardless of their gender, age, race, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religious belief. We support and honor our Sutter employees, clinicians and patients who are part of the AAPI community.

We recognize disavowing racism in all its forms is not enough. We must continue to take action against it. We know racism and xenophobia are a key part of the country’s public health crisis, acting as a barrier to accessing care and directly related to inequities in healthcare outcomes. Sutter’s commitment to accessible, culturally competent, equity-driven care is why we created the Institute for Health Equity in December 2020. The Institute uses research, data and partnerships to uncover and address disparities in healthcare and further health equity solutions within our system and across the country.

Additionally, we are committed to addressing unconscious bias in all facets of Sutter Health. Last year, we launched a robust unconscious bias training program specific to the clinical setting for physicians, beginning with OB-GYN and emergency medicine doctors. Ultimately, all of our clinicians will be trained.

We have also built and strengthened our relationship with community-based Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) that help support the AAPI community in the Northern California communities we serve. As one example, we partner with San Francisco’s North East Medical Services, the largest FQHC serving the Asian community in the country, to serve 32,000 Medi-Cal managed care patients in the city, the majority of whom are low income Chinese American residents.

Jeff Chen M.D., MPH, FACEP is chief of staff at Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland. Dr. Chen wrote a powerful and personal piece from his perspective as a physician who is Asian American. I encourage everyone to read it, and also to listen to and elevate the diverse voices in our community. We all have much to learn.