The year 2006 marks the 100th anniversary of Sutter VNA & Hospice, and of home health care in general in Northern California.

We're proud of our history! Visiting nurses are as welcome in homes today as they were 100 years ago. Throughout the century they have brought compassion, expert care, and comfort to patients and their families -- making it possible for people to recover or live with illness at home, surrounded by the people and things they love. Celebrate with us at our special events.

The Sutter VNA & Hospice Timeline

Here's are some highlights of Sutter VNA & Hospice history, from 1906 to the present:

• April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake hits San Francisco and refugees flee across the bay to Alameda County. Within days, the Berkeley Free Clinic is established to provide community health and visiting nurse services for the influx of refugees.
• 1908: Visiting nurse services are formally established as part of the Berkeley Clinic at 954 University Ave. There were no transportation facilities, even few sidewalks. Long distances had to be covered by foot, except when the nurse's brother came to the rescue with a horse and buggy!
• 1918: The Berkeley Clinic changes its name to the Berkeley Dispensary. The influenza epidemic hits California and the Dispensary responds with 8,429 home visits to those striken. The following year, the Berkeley chapter of the American Red Cross agrees to provide salary and equipment for a visiting nurse to serve all of Berkeley.
• 1925: The VNA of San Francisco is founded to "teach lessons of right living in the home" and to provide teaching and bedside care to reduce the "high cost of being sick." By 1926, the San Francisco VNA (now Sutter VNA & Hospice) cared for 6,711 patients and made 32,530 home visits.
• 1937: The Sacramento VNA and San Mateo VNA (both are now Sutter VNA & Hospice) are founded as part of the local chapters of the Red Cross. The Sacramento VNA sees 151 cases and makes 1,369 home visits for a fee of $1.25 per visit, with a sliding scale. Collecting 1/8 of the fee is considered excellent. In San Mateo a single visiting nurse makes 2,200 home visits in a year.
• 1941: The Sacramento VNA makes 2,598 home visits. By 1946 this number has grown to 19,244 home visits a year.
• 1960: San Mateo VNA becomes one of the first visiting nurse programs in the country to offer home-based physical therapy.
• 1962: The Berkeley program is now called Berkeley Visiting Nurse Association.
• 1965: Marin Home Care (now Sutter VNA) is established. The program became part of Marin General Hospital in 1986, and part of Sutter VNA & Hospice in 2004.
• 1971-1973: Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley opens a home health care program to assist patients after discharge from the hospital. The Berkeley VNA eventually merges with this program.
• 1977: Home Hospice of Sonoma County (now Sutter VNA & Hospice), one of the first home hospice programs in the country, is founded in Santa Rosa. By 1982 the program has expanded its bereavement services to include schools, churches, and businesses, and is a national model for no-fee support groups.
• 1977: Hospice of San Francisco (now Sutter VNA & Hospice) is founded and creates an AIDS care team. It is the first hospice program in San Francisco to be Medicare certified.
• 1978: The Sacramento VNA expands to serve Yolo County.
• 1980: Alta Bates Hospital begins a home hospice program.
• 1980: Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento begins a home hospice program (now our Sutter Hospice location).
• 1982: Roseville Hospital establishes hospice services as a "grassroots" program. The program (now Sutter VNA & Hospice) becomes Medicare certified in 1995.
• 1995: Berkeley VNA, along with VNA of Alameda County, becomes part of the Alta Bates Corporation, which is part of the California Health System (CHS).
• 1985: Tracy Community Hospital founds a home health care program, and in 1995 adds home hospice services (now Sutter VNA & Hospice).
• 1985: The first children's bereavement art group is held in Sacramento. In 1987 Home Hospice of Sonoma County founds a children's bereavement program in Santa Rosa. Both programs are still in operation today.
• 1986: Berkeley VNA changes its name to Northern California Visiting Nurse Assocation and Hospice.
• 1986: San Francisco VNA and Hospice of San Francisco join Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center (which becomes California Pacific Medical Center), and is called VNA & Hospice of San Francisco.
• 1987: Roseville Hospital establishes home health services (now Sutter VNA & Hospice).
• 1989: San Mateo adds the services of an on-call nurse for advice and visits between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. on weekdays, and 24 hours a day on weekends -- a service that continues throughout Sutter VNA & Hospice today.
• 1992: Northern California Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice merges with Alta Bates Hospice and changes its name to Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice of Northern California (VNAHNC). VNAHNC adds a Contra Costa County location.
• 1993: VNAHNC begins a community flu shot program that continues today. In 2005, the Sutter VNA & Hospice program administered 74,000 flu shots, mostly to those at highest risk from the flu.
• 1993: Sutter Health purchases the Sacramento and Roseville VNAs and renames them Sutter Visiting Nurse Association.
• 1995: San Mateo VNA merges with VNAHNC.
• 1996: Home Hospice of Sonoma County merges with VNAHNC and adds home health services.
• 1996: The VNA & Hospice Foundation is established to raise money to provide home health and hospice services to all who need them, regardless of ability to pay.
• 1997: California Health System and Sutter Health merge, making VNAHNC part of Sutter Health. VNAHNC merges with other Sutter-affiliated home health agencies at Sutter Solano, Sutter Delta, Eden (San Leandro), and Mills-Peninsula hospitals.
• 2000: Sutter Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) & Hospice is created by the merger of Sutter VNAs in Davis, Sacramento, and Roseville with the Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice of Northern California (VNAHNC). Sutter Infusion & Pharmacy Services (SIPS) becomes part of Sutter VNA & Hospice, expanding SVNAH's home-based infusion programs.
• 2002: Sutter Tracy Community Hospital Home Health and Hospice becomes part of Sutter VNA & Hospice.
• 2003: Sutter VNA & Hospice introduces the Advanced Illness Management(AIM) program, after a three-year pilot project. AIM is an innovative way to meet the needs of chronically ill patients not enrolled in hospice care.
• 2004: Marin Home Care becomes part of Sutter VNA & Hospice.
• 2005: Visiting Nurses and Hospice of San Francisco becomes part of Sutter VNA & Hospice.
• 2005: Sutter VNA & Hospice adds home medical equipment and respiratory therapy to its continuum of services, through the merger of Sacramento-based Timberlake Corporaton with SVNAH. In 2006, Timberlake expands its operation to the East Bay with a San Leandro site (formerly Advanced Respiratory Care).
• 2005: Sutter Infusion & Pharmacy Services expands its services to the Bay Area with a new pharmacy located in Emervyille.
• 2006: Sutter VNA & Hospice celebrates its 100th anniversary! Our average daily census of about 7,000 patients makes us one of the largest not-for-profit "hospital without walls" in the country!