Sutter Davis Hospital

Sutter Davis Hospital (SDH) is a nonprofit, 48-bed acute care 

hospital that offers care in four primary areas: medical-surgical 

and intensive care, birthing, emergency care and surgical services. 

Sutter Davis is the only acute care facility in Davis, Calif., and one of 

two in its county. It operates as part of a regional structure within the 

Sutter Health System. SDH’s workforce consists of 385 employees

and 394 medical staff members supported by 100 volunteers. 

The hospital operated in 2012 on nearly $95 million in revenues.

Top-Level Care Maximizes 

Positive Outcomes

• Sutter Davis Hospital demonstrates sustained high levels of 

performance in many health care and patient-focused process 

results. For example, core measure scores reported to the Centers 

for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have ranked in the top 

10 percent nationally since 2010. (Core measures are evidencebased performance metrics that set national standards for 

specific patient groups.) These include results for acute myocardial 

infarction, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. Sutter Davis’ 

scores on performance measures defined by the Surgical Care 

Improvement Project, a national quality partnership dedicated to 

significantly reducing surgical complications, also have achieved 

top decile levels. 

• MIDAS (Medical Information Data Analysis System), a health care 

software for tracking and trending quality-of-care data, shows 

Sutter Davis exceeds the top 10 percent benchmarks nationally for 

readmission rates and average length of stay for pneumonia, 

heart failure and acute myocardial infarction, as well as average 

length of stay for both Medicare and overall inpatient care. 

• Sutter Davis Hospital’s rate of hospital-acquired conditions 

outperforms benchmarks and is equal to or better than 

competitors’ rates. Metrics for the Birthing Center, one of the 

hospital’s focus areas, exceed benchmarks for C-section rates, 

elective deliveries at less than 39 weeks and rate of exclusive 

breast milk feeding. 

• Sutter Davis performs in the top 10 percent nationally for postoperative orthopedic surgical infections rates, with no infections 

from 2008 through 2012. The hospital has experienced zero 

catheter-associated urinary tract infections since 2008 and zero 

central-line-associated blood stream infections events since 2010. 

No adverse events involving incompatible blood have occurred 

since 2008. 

• The Birthing Center team, which delivers approximately 1,300 

babies per year, has been nationally recognized as a highly 

collaborative model of care. Teams of physicians, certified 

midwives, anesthesiologists, pediatricians, doulas and nurses 

2013 Award Recipient

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

Highlights

• SDH performance scores for specific patient groups 

such as acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure 

and pneumonia have ranked in the top 10 percent 

nationally for since 2010. 

• SDH exceeds the top 10 percent benchmarks nationally 

for readmission rates and average length of stay for 

pneumonia, heart failure and acute myocardial infarction, 

as well as average length of stay for both Medicare and 

overall inpatient care. 

• SDH demonstrates high standards for work and process 

efficiency. For example, the average door-to-doctor time 

in emergency has decreased from 45 minutes in 2008 to 

22 minutes in 2012, well below the California benchmark 

of 58 minutes. 

• An organizational focus on people is reflected in SDH’s 

employee satisfaction and engagement scores, which 

exceed the top 10 percent of marks in a national 

survey database. 
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

2013 Award Recipient

Sutter Davis Hospital

offer a comprehensive, family-centered approach to alternative 

birthing methods, as well as traditional birthing options. C-section 

rates are among the lowest in California and voluntary induction 

rates remain below the national benchmark. 

• Sutter Davis Hospital’s focus on compassion and caring has 

consistently ranked the hospital in the top 10 percent nationally for 

patient satisfaction and engagement as defined by the Hospital 

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider and Systems 

(HCAHPS). SDH also has a four-year record meeting CMS 

benchmarks for overall ratings of the hospital and measures of 

customers’ willingness to recommend the hospital to others. 

Fiscal Health Enables Quality 

Health Services 

• Sutter Davis Hospital demonstrates financial excellence in its 

earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization 

margins, exceeding the 93rd percentile of California acute care 

hospitals from 2006 to 2009 (the last year for which data are 

available). SDH’s margins topped 25 percent in 2011 and its net 

operating margin has grown steadily since 2008, significantly 

outperforming local competitors and the Truven Health Analytics 

“Top 100 Hospitals.” 

• The hospital’s commitment to affordability is demonstrated by the 

measures of its cost per discharge (when adjusted by the mix of 

cases as weighted by Medicare). Sutter Davis’ performance using 

this cost monitoring and control metric exceeds the top 25 percent 

of the hospitals in California and ranks the hospital’s cost among 

the lowest in its system. 

• Sutter Davis maintains overall market share against its larger 

competitors. Growth in two service lines—the emergency 

department and oncology—reflects the hospital’s ability to meet 

community needs. Specifically, emergency visits reflect 

approximately 12 percent growth from 2008 through 2012, and 

oncology visits nearly doubled between 2007 and 2012. 

Additionally, the Birthing Center’s total births are more than 

double the number of the local competitor. 

Great Team + Great Environment = 

Successful Workforce

• Sutter Davis’ Culture of Caring is reinforced through senior leaders’ 

dedication to safe patient care, an engaged workforce and the 

community. Annual goals and action plans create accountability 

for the delivery of a consistently positive patient experience. 

This accounts for the hospital’s solid clinical quality ratings and 

outcomes and its strong position as a preferred place to work and 

practice medicine. 

• Sutter Davis Hospital demonstrates high standards for work and 

process efficiency. For example, the average door-to-doctor time in 

emergency has decreased from 45 minutes in 2008 to 22 minutes 

in 2012, well below the California benchmark of 58 minutes. 

• An organizational focus on people is reflected in Sutter Davis’ 

employee satisfaction and engagement scores, which exceed the 

top 10 percent of marks in a national survey database. Physician 

satisfaction shows sustained improvement over the past three 

years, increasing from 80 percent to 90 percent, and attaining 

Press Ganey top 10 percent performance in 2011 and 2012. 

• Measures of workforce climate at Sutter Davis Hospital exceed 

Sutter Health’s targeted goals. SDH employees have rated 

workforce health, safety and security at 100 percent from 2008 to 

2012. Employee perceptions of safety exceed national top 

10 percent benchmarks as measured in the hospital’s annual 

Culture of Safety survey. 

Good Citizens and Good Neighbors

• Sutter Davis Hospital demonstrates a commitment to its mission 

“to enhance the well-being of people in the communities we 

serve” via strong performance levels and trends on indicators of 

how the hospital has fulfilled its societal responsibilities and 

contributed to community health. 

• From 2009 to 2012, Sutter Davis Hospital doubled the number of 

children retained by the Yolo Children’s Alliance Health 

Initiative, a project dedicated to providing health insurance for all 

children in Yolo County, Calif. 

• A Sutter Davis partnership with CommuniCare, Davis, Calif.’s 

Federally Qualified Health Center, ensures service to the 

medically indigent, reflecting a commitment to one standard of 

care for all patients. 

• All Sutter Davis leaders exemplify ethical behavior, leading by 

example at all levels of the organization. All staff members are 

held responsible for meeting ethical expectations through ethics 

training and education, established standards of behavior, and 

a zero-tolerance policy for ethical breaches 

For more information:

Nancy Turner

Sutter Davis Hospital

2000 Sutter Place

Davis, CA 95616

(916) 887-7015

turnern@sutterhealth.org

http://www.sutterdavis.org

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program

The Baldrige Program educates organizations of all sizes and 

from all sectors in organizational performance management and 

improvement. We also administer the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award. Our key services are to identify and recognize 

role-model organizations, share best management practices, and 

help organizations achieve best-in-class performance levels. We are 

the only public-private partnership and Presidential award program 

dedicated to improving U.S. organizations. 

For more information on Baldrige, visit www.nist.gov/baldrige, 

call (301) 975-2036, or e-mail us at baldrige@nist.gov.