Sutter Health to become majority owner of Stanislaus Surgical Hospital in Modesto

Sacramento-based Sutter Health said it has signed an agreement to become majority owner of Stanislaus Surgical Hospital in Modesto.

The agreement will be effective April 1, according to a news release issued Tuesday.

Sutter and the specialty hospital, at Oakdale Road and East Orangeburg Avenue, had discussed a partnership since a joint statement in June 2013 said they were in exclusive negotiations.

Stanislaus Surgical is a licensed acute care hospital with eight operating rooms and 23 inpatient beds. The hospital, specializing in knee and hip replacements and many other surgical procedures, does not have an emergency department.

Sutter Health is affiliated with Memorial Medical Center of Modesto and the Sutter Gould physicians organization.

Under the agreement, Stanislaus Surgical will remain a separate business entity “and will continue operations in its current form,” the news release said. Sutter will work alongside the hospital’s physician ownership group.

Sutter Health “has developed a strategic path forward that accounts for a changing health care environment and today’s value-minded consumer,” said Bill Davis, chief executive officer of Sutter Health’s surgery center division. “This agreement helps us move farther along that path.”

Douglas Johnson, CEO of Stanislaus Surgical Hospital, said the agreement will allow the partners to share their expertise, which should benefit the community. “Our hospital and staff take great pride in providing care in a state-of-the-art facility, with outstanding clinical quality rankings and superior patient satisfaction scores,” Johnson said. “We look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

Memorial CEO Daryn Kumar said the partnership will complement the acute care and outpatient surgery services at Memorial and the outpatient care at Sutter Gould medical offices. “We are committed to continuing to develop our integrated delivery system so we can provide our patients with safe, quality, affordable care,” Kumar said.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Sutter Health to become majority owner of Stanislaus Surgical Hospital in Modesto."