Hospitals

Couple donates $20 million to encourage innovation at Sutter Health

Michael and Judith Gaulke, a Silicon Valley couple, has given $20 million to establish the Michael and Judith Gaulke Innovation Hatchery Endowment Fund at Sutter Health.

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Do you have $20 million to spare to give to a cause you love?

Michael and Judith Gaulke apparently do.

The Silicon Valley couple has donated that amount to create the Michael and Judith Gaulke Innovation Hatchery Endowment Fund at Sacramento, California-based Sutter Health.

It’s the single largest donation in Sutter’s history, and it’s geared toward breathing air into new healthcare-related ideas.

In a statement, Sutter Health President and CEO Sarah Krevans commented on the Gaulkes’ donation:

We are humbled by the extreme generosity of the Gaulkes and their heartfelt gift. Their support for innovation will help pioneer breakthroughs in care delivery that will transform healthcare here in Northern California and improve patients’ experiences throughout the United States. Our physicians and their teams, working in partnership with the innovation that surrounds us here in Northern California, will bring together the power of creativity and technology with the best clinical care to make healthcare more compassionate, accessible and affordable to all.

The Innovation Hatchery, an incubator, tests pilots in 90-day sessions at hospitals. It is primarily centered around ideas in mother-baby care, mental health, end-of-life care, primary care and compassionate hospitalization.

This isn’t the first time Sutter Health has taken on innovation.

The network has existing relationships with various groups. Through a partnership with Lyft, discharged emergency department patients can receive a ride home from San Francisco-based California Pacific Medical Center. Sutter’s partnership with Augmedix gives physicians the opportunity to utilize Google Glass technology.

What made the Gaulkes choose to donate to Sutter? Michael answered that question outright in a statement:

Judy and I made this gift to Sutter Health because we wholeheartedly believe in what the Hatchery is doing to marry promising innovations with what patients need most. It’s going to take the kind of innovative breakthroughs that come to life every day in Northern California to make a difference in healthcare, and we believe in Sutter’s approach to ‘hatching’ new ideas to improve care quality and access for the better. Judy and I are incredibly optimistic. We believe that investing today will increase our chances of seeing significant change in healthcare tomorrow, so that there is real progress in our lifetime.

On top of that, both Michael and Judith are Sutter Health Palo Alto Medical Foundation patients and cancer survivors. In addition to their healthcare advocacy, they have given to their alma mater, Corvallis-based Oregon State University.

In recognition of their gift, Sutter will name its PAMF Palo Alto Center and the lobby of its PAMF San Carlos Center after the Gaulkes.

Photo: 9amstock, Getty Images

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