Sutter Health among Premier's 15 Top Health Systems for 2025
Story Highlights Sutter Health ranked third among large health systems nationwide.
Premier's 15 Top Health Systems list evaluated 338 systems.
Top-ranked systems outperformed peers in mortality rates and efficiency.
Sutter Health was ranked among the best in the nation in Premier's 15 Top Health Systems in the United States.
The annual list ranks health systems based on clinical outcomes, extended outcomes, operational efficiency and patient experience. A total of 338 health systems were evaluated for the 2025 Premier's 15 Top Health Systems list.
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To help spotlight the top hospitals and health systems across the nation, The Business Journals is partnering with Premier, a technology-driven, health care improvement company, to publish its annual rankings, including its 100 Top Hospitals ranking.
Sutter ranked No. 3 among five large health systems, following two based in Texas. It earned five stars, indicating performance in the top quintile, for clinical outcomes, which consider risk-adjusted mortality, complications, hospital-acquired infections, 30-day mortality and readmissions. It also received four stars for operational efficiency and patient experience.
Sutter is one of the largest employers, nonprofits and companies in the Sacramento region. It reported nearly $18 billion in revenue for fiscal 2024 and employs about 17,500 people in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties.
This year's top performers on Premier's 15 Top Health Systems rankings were Houston Methodist in Houston, Texas; Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and CHI Memorial in Chattanooga, Tennessee, each of which topped its respective size category.
Only health systems with at least two short-term, general, acute care hospitals with separate Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Certification Numbers were included in the analysis.
Rankings were based on Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, and data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Care Compare website. Health systems do not apply to be considered.
The health systems on this year's rankings outperformed peer systems by 22% on inpatient mortality rates. They also had fewer infections and shorter stays compared to peers.
If the performance of this year's 15 Top Health Systems were extrapolated to all Medicare inpatients, more than 171,000 lives could be saved in-hospital and the typical patient could be released a half-day sooner.
Here are this year's 15 Top Health Systems:
Large Health Systems
1. Houston Methodist
City: Houston, TX
System type: Parent
2. Baylor Scott & White Health
City: Dallas, TX
System type: Parent
3. Sutter Health
City: Sacramento, CA
System type: System
4. Intermountain Health
City: Salt Lake City, UT
System type: Parent
5. UCHealth
City: Aurora, CO
System type: Parent
Medium Health Systems
1. Saint Francis Health System
City: Tulsa, OK
System type: Parent
2. HCA Continental Division
City: Denver, CO
System type: Subsystem
3. HCA Mountain Division
City: Cottonwood Heights, UT
System type: Subsystem
4. HCA Central and West Texas Division
City: Austin, TX
System type: Subsystem
5. CHI Health
City: Omaha, NE
System type: Subsystem
Small Health Systems
1. CHI Memorial
City: Chattanooga, TN
System type: Subsystem
2. CHRISTUS Spohn Health System
City: Corpus Christi, TX
System type: Subsystem
3. CHI Saint Joseph Health
City: Lexington, KY
System type: Subsystem
4. Health First
City: Rockledge, FL
System type: Parent
5. Baptist Health Care (Florida)
City: Pensacola, FL
System type: Parent
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