On Oct. 20, Sutter Health opened the doors to its new Santa Clara healthcare facility, welcoming patients of all ages. The first building in what is called the Sutter East Santa Clara Campus, located at 2441 Mission College Blvd., is part of the Sutter Healthcare system’s bridge between Palo Alto and Morgan Hill.
“There’s such a need in the community for primary care access and access to care. So, we’re really excited that we can expand what we’ve been offering the community, Santa Clara in particular, and their surrounding communities,” Amber Oothoudt, Sutter Health’s regional operations director for Santa Clara.
“They [Sutter Health] configure demand based on how many patients are calling to make appointments and how long it [has] taken them to get into a provider,” Oothoudt continued. “That’s what launched the growth and expansion was the awareness and understanding that patients just aren’t getting the kind of care that they need in the area.”
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Sutter Healthcare took over an existing building on Mission College Boulevard that had been vacant for a while but repurposing it wasn’t as simple as one would think.
“These buildings were originally not meant for healthcare use; there’s a lot of regulations. It was incredibly difficult to get this function into this building,” said Karva Tam Sykes, health care principal with HGA, the architect on the project. “We had to do a lot of work with Sutter and the build team to say, ‘This is the space that we have. How do we modify this to ensure that we get enough uniformity to align with the standards that Sutter is trying to implement across all of their facilities, but still create a nice, welcoming space like this?’ There was a lot of structural upgrades that were necessary for this building. I think we got really lucky. There’s so much natural light coming in here. There’s the beautiful atrium in the middle. For a primary care facility, I think it turned out really nice.”
In that atrium, there’s an art sculpture “Poppy Drift,” created by artist Talley Fisher. It’s dedicated to the official state flower, the California poppy.
“Often seen as a symbol of hope, resilience and renewal, the California poppy reflects Sutter Health’s commitment to supporting the health and healing of the community,” reads the plaque near the installation.
The sculpture, like all of the art in the facility, was curated from local artists by the San Francisco-based Andrea Schwartz Gallery.
Other little touches were also placed within the hospital, from the white noise piped into halls for increased patient privacy to the carefully selected wall colors.
“Soothing and calming and healing colors that were selected and the artwork that goes along with the colors that were selected for this building,” said Teresa Starlitto, vice president of clinical operations and facility planning for Greater Silicon Valley in Sutter Health. “So, it’s truly an environment where you’re healing within the facility.”
The facility includes pediatric and family medicine as well as testing such as MRIs, CT scanners and labs. The lab testing is onsite so doctors receive results quickly. There’s also an urgent care unit within the hospital.
Other parts of the hospital will be online soon, including the cardiology unit. There are also plans to add obstetrics and gynecology and other specialties to the Santa Clara East campus. The building at 2441 Mission College Blvd. is just the first phase of the project. Other phases will open in 2026 and 2027.
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