[3] The predecessor of today's Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital opened its doors to residents of Sonoma County in 1866.

[4][5] Government cutbacks, the advent of managed care, and other financial pressures fueled an increase in hospital and physician organization mergers, acquisitions, and affiliations.

[6] By 1995, Sutter Health had grown to include 18 affiliated hospitals, seven medical foundations (physician organizations), and numerous outpatient care centers throughout Northern California.

Berkeley-based Alta Bates Corporation (now known as Alta Bates Summit Medical Center) joined CHS in 1992, the same year that saw the creation of California Pacific Medical Center, formed through a merger of Pacific Presbyterian and Children's Hospital of San Francisco.

[19] Scout by Sutter Health is a 12-week, nonclinical program targeted at people aged 12 to 26 designed to help them deal with anxiety, depression, and stress.

[21] Sutter Health doctors and hospitals participate in voluntary and mandatory programs that publicly report patient satisfaction, cost, utilization, and quality of care measures.

For example: In 2014, the Brookings Institution[28] and The Atlantic[29] wrote about Sutter Health's nationally recognized Advanced Illness Management program, which improves quality of life for patients with advanced, chronic illness, reduces unnecessary hospitalizations, and makes care more cost-effective.

Later, along with several other health systems, it reached settlement agreements in class-action lawsuits related to the billing of uninsured patients.

[32] In 2014, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union & Employers Benefit Trust (UEBT) filed a class action antitrust lawsuit against Sutter Health.

Under the terms of the settlement, Sutter was not required to admit wrongdoing, but will pay plaintiffs $575 million in damages, and has agreed to significantly change its anti-competitive business practices.