Sutter Health celebrates 100th anniversary with free fall festival in midtown Sacramento

Sutter Health, the California health care giant with deep roots in the capital region, is inviting the public on Saturday to a free fall festival in midtown Sacramento where it opened its first hospital 100 years ago.

The flagship hospital now known as Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, has cared for millions of area residents. Its birthing center has delivered more than 407,000 babies. It has Northern California’s largest neonatal intensive care unit. Its heart program had the first heart surgeries performed in the Central Valley and is the second hospital in California to be certified as a comprehensive cardiac center.

The Sacramento medical center also has the Sutter Neuroscience Institute that opened several clinics for pediatric and adult neurological disorders and pioneered several minimally invasive surgeries, as well as the Sutter Cancer Center’s comprehensive oncology program. The midtown medical campus also is the site of the first robotic surgery in the world and remains a leader nationally in using medical robots to assist in complex surgeries.

Beyond the capital, the not-for-profit health system named for Sacramento settler John Sutter has 23 acute care hospitals and employs over 50,000 people across Northern and Central California. It’s also the county’s sixth-largest employer with over 9,000 employees in Sacramento, Elk Grove and Folsom, among other locations, according to the Sacramento Business Journal.

Block party to celebrate Sutter Health

Saturday’s festival celebrating Sutter Health’s 100th anniversary, which will be held from noon to 5 p.m. on Capitol Avenue between 27th and 28th streets, will offer attendees free food from local restaurants, including a special Sutter 100-year anniversary flavor of ice cream from Leatherby’s, according to a Sutter Health news release.

Other free food offerings include Side Hustle Pizza, Carmazzi Caramel Corn, Sutter Health Park hot dogs, Stroopwafel, Golden 1 Center-winning sugar-coated cupcakes, Tea Bar & Fusion and Raley’s fruit stands.

There will be continuous live performances on stage from artists Deeks, Ballet Folklorico, B Street Theatre and others. The festival also will have local high school marching bands performing.

The festival’s entertainment will start with a performance by Evan Hines, a piano prodigy from Rocklin who at the age of 15 suddenly lost much of his memory and couldn’t even remember how to play the piano.

Hines was taken to Sutter Children’s Center in Sacramento and diagnosed with a rare varicella virus that can cause encephalitis, a life-threatening inflammation of the brain. With the help of Dr. Emy Daniel, a Sutter pediatric physician and hospitalist, the teen’s quick diagnosis allowed him to receive prompt treatment. He was playing the piano again within a couple of weeks.

The Sutter Children’s Center, which provides comprehensive care for hospitalized children, will have its full-time facility dogs at the festival to greet attendees, along with the River Cats’ “Dinger” mascot. The canine program recently celebrate its own anniversary after 20 years of service.

The festival will offer other activities, including a teddy bear clinic for children, hayrides, face-painting, carnival games, photo booths, make-your-own commemorative T-shirts, corn husk doll-making and a balloon artist. Attendees also can pick a pumpkin to take home or build your own fall flower bouquet.

Sacramento Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Sutter Health CEO and President Warner Thomas are scheduled to speak at the festival along with other dignitaries.