Sutter Health is the largest hospital system in Northern California and one of the most profitable systems in the entire nation. Sutter currently operates 26 hospitals and numerous clinics, insurance companies, home health agencies, a medical equipment company, and other holdings.

The Sacramento-based corporation, which has more than $5 billion in assets and 42,000 employees, earned nearly $1.2 billion over the past three years. Although Sutter legally is a "non-profit" corporation, the company is composed of dozens of for-profit and non-profit subsidiaries.

As the largest healthcare corporation in Northern California, Sutter Health plays an important role in Northern California's health care system. In 2003, Sutter hospitals treated 700,000 patients in their emergency rooms and discharged nearly a quarter million hospital patients - more than any other hospital system in the region. Sutter Health's practice and policies affect more than one hundred Northern California communities that rely on its facilities for medical care.