Sutter Health CEO ‘Disturbed' by Discrimination Claims in NBC Bay Area Report, Orders Reforms

Sutter Health, one of California’s largest medical providers with more than 3 million patients, is taking action just days after an NBC Bay Area investigative report exposed racial discrimination allegations inside Sutter's hospitals and clinics across Northern California.  Nearly a dozen Black physicians, comprised of current and former Sutter employees, have accused the medical provider of engaging in discriminatory practices over the past two decades. Between them, they say the racial discrimination they suffered has resulted in loss of pay, demotions, and hostile work environments for Black doctors.

Warner Thomas, Sutter Health’s president and CEO, is now promising major reforms to combat discrimination inside the hospital system’s training and recruitment processes.  On Monday, he outlined his plans in an e-mail sent to Sutter’s Board of Directors, which is comprised of Thomas and 12 other members.

“I am personally disturbed by the discrimination claims made by three Sutter affiliated physicians in a local Bay Area NBC story,” Thomas wrote. “Our response to this will not be defensive, instead we will use this situation as a catalyst for a different level of energy and urgency around this work and a much broader, more holistic, more comprehensive approach.”

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By Tuesday, the letter had already been forwarded to individuals outside of Sutter's Board of Directors and continues to be circulated amongst physicians within the medical group, which stretches across more than 20 hospitals in Northern California.

Of the more than 30 medical systems across California, Sutter Health is the third largest based on the number of hospitals (including acute-care, rehabilitation, and behavioral health facilities), according to data the Investigative Unit obtained from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI). The only California systems larger than Sutter are Dignity Health and Kaiser Hospitals.

Over the last month, the Investigative Unit broadcast a pair of reports that collectively highlighted stories from nearly a dozen current and former black physicians at Sutter, who accuse the medical group of discrimination.  The most recent investigation, which aired last week, centered around a trio of Black physicians who claim Sutter leaders bullied, harassed, and humiliated them because of the color of their skin. 

Thomas's letter, which details “several immediate actions” he hopes to take this week, was emailed just three days after the latest NBC Bay Area story aired.

“We must move faster and more visibly demonstrate efforts to create a more inclusive culture,” Thomas wrote. “We take any claims of discrimination very seriously and are digging in to better understand these physicians' feedback, including inviting them to meet with me directly.” 

While Thomas's letter references the three Sutter physicians featured in NBC Bay Area's most recent investigation, it makes no mention of Dr. Omondi Nyong’o, an internationally recognized pediatric ophthalmologist who was profiled in an NBC Bay Area report last month. Nyong'o, who still practices at a Sutter Health facility in Palo Alto and has more than a decade of work experience with the medical group, filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Sutter Health in 2021. The litigation, which is still pending, also includes discrimination claims from seven other anonymous Black physicians.

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Thomas has only been at the helm of Sutter Health since December of last year.  He previously spent a decade as president and CEO of Ochsner Health, Louisiana’s largest healthcare provider.

Thomas is now promising to fast-track the hiring of a new Chief Diversity Officer for Sutter, a first-of-its-kind position for the medical group, and also vowed to speak with reporters about his ongoing efforts to combat discrimination.

“We will engage in media requests when contacted while also getting this message out more publicly, proactively, and transparently.”

Thomas has previously declined to be interviewed as part of NBC Bay Area’s recent reporting, however, on Thursday his office said Thomas is now willing to speak with the Investigative Unit and is in the process of scheduling the interview.

“There are many positive things going on across the organization,” Thomas wrote.  “Now is the time to bring this conversation front and center, to learn, and to do better.”

Sutter's CEO Sent This Letter to his Board of Directors in Response to Discrimination Allegations From Black Physicians:

Since my first day as CEO, I have talked about how embracing diversity, equity and inclusion is a critical priority of mine.  We have the unique privilege of serving one of the most diverse patient populations in the country, and we must move faster and more visibly demonstrate efforts to create a more inclusive culture. One that fosters an environment of trust and respect for our colleagues, patients, and communities.

I am personally disturbed by the discrimination claims made by three Sutter affiliated physicians in a local Bay Area NBC story that aired Friday night, and assure you that we take any claims of discrimination very seriously and are digging in to better understand these physicians' feedback, including inviting them to meet with me directly.

Our response to this will not be defensive, instead we will use this situation as a catalyst for a different level of energy and urgency around this work and a much broader, more holistic, more comprehensive approach. I will begin work right away with our DEI Committee Board members and other expert resources, to guide and inform our robust DEI plan and approach over the next 30-45 days.

While that multi-phase plan is in development, we are taking several immediate actions starting this week:

• We will bring in an expert external consultant or firm to work directly with me as we inform and build the plan, and assess activities, policies, and the structure in place today to align them with the impact we want to have. (This will be in parallel to successfully completing our fast-tracked, national search for a Chief Diversity Officer.)

• We will evaluate the membership and charter of our DEI Strategy Group and reform and expand it to become a System DEI Council. Working closely with the medical groups, independent physicians, and medical staffs, we will also form an additional DEI Council specifically for physicians, one for APCs and one for leaders. All of these councils will have specific charters, responsibilities, and execution plans.

• We will hold dedicated listening sessions and forums broadly and at every level with diverse physicians, clinicians, and staff across the organization to better understand their workplace experience, what is working and where we can improve.

• We will take the learnings from all of these listening sessions, and input from the Board and others, and evolve the structure and influence of our IRGS and local inclusion councils. Part of this evaluation will be to look at what IRGS are needed and how to further operationalize and support the IRGS and Inclusion Councils un (sic) a more systematic way.

• We will review our internal training, hiring approach and practices and set a path toward making measurable strides in how we build the right capabilities and environment while also attracting and hiring more diverse physician and leader candidates. As part of this we will set a target for improvement relatively quickly and we will share this with you, and more broadly across the organization.

• We will accelerate our work to continue to build a diverse pipeline in our residency and Graduate Medical Educations (sic) programs.

• We will build a dynamic internal and external communications plan to increase visibility around the importance of this work, and we will engage in media requests when contacted while also getting this message out more publicly, proactively, and transparently.

There are many positive things going on across the organization and now is the time to bring this conversation front and center, to learn, and to do better. I will share more details around progress on the above actions and the more holistic planning process within the week.

I will also continue to keep the board informed as this story progresses. We will work directly with the SH Board DEI Committee to vet our planning activities and progress and commit to report the more detailed holistic Sutter DEI Plan at or before our August Board meeting. I appreciate your continued support and guidance and as always, please feel free to call me with any thoughts, questions, or concerns.

Warner

Watch our entire investigative series

• Part 1: Lawsuit alleges racism ‘permeates' Sutter Health
• Part 2: Black doctors allege discrimination at Sutter Health
• Part 3: Sutter CEO ‘disturbed' by discrimination claims in NBC Bay Area report, orders reforms
• Part 4: Senior Investigative Reporter Bigad Shaban discusses discrimination claims against Sutter
• Part 5: Black doctors accuse Sutter of discrimination, CEO's response met with skepticism

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