SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sutter Health and Santa Clara University today announced the launch of the Mark & Mary Stevens School of Medicine, establishing the first new medical school in California’s San Francisco Bay Area in more than a century. The collaboration brings together two mission-driven organizations to redefine how physicians are trained and how care is delivered in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
For Sutter Health, the new school marks a key step in its broader strategy to build a leading learning health system — where education, research, and care work together to shape the future of medicine. For Santa Clara, the collaboration represents the attainment of a key goal outlined in the University’s Impact 2030 strategic plan: to increase its impact in an area of tremendous societal need, while building on its strong foundation of high-quality education in science, technology, ethics, and health.
The medical school will be officially named the Mark & Mary Stevens School of Medicine, a collaboration between Sutter Health and Santa Clara University. It is being funded in part by a $175 million gift from Santa Clara 1984 alumna Mary (Mathews) Stevens and her husband, venture capitalist Mark Stevens, who, along with their children, are multi-decade Sutter Health patients. The couple have long served as connectors between the two organizations, benefiting countless patients and young people in Silicon Valley. This latest gift represents the largest-ever cash gift to Catholic higher education, and the largest gift ever to either Santa Clara or Sutter Health. This is Sutter Health’s second consecutive year receiving a philanthropic contribution of more than $100 million.
The launch event took place at the site of the school’s future campus, an 82,000-square-foot facility under construction five miles from Santa Clara University’s historic mission campus and adjacent to the Sutter East Santa Clara Campus in Silicon Valley. Down the road, on Sutter’s West Santa Clara Campus, the health system plans to open a major new 272-bed, eight-story medical center by 2031.
“We are proud to partner with Sutter Health to create a world-class medical school to produce physicians who are continually anticipating and defining the future of healthcare. Our new school will be grounded in Santa Clara’s Jesuit tradition of keeping the needs of the whole person at the forefront of empathetic and trustworthy care, while also embedding innovative technologies that assist physicians in keeping individuals, families, and communities well,” said Julie Sullivan, president of Santa Clara University. “We are profoundly grateful for the extraordinary naming gift from the Stevens family, who embody the values and standards of excellence of both organizations.”
A partnership between healthcare and higher education
The partnership is among the first of its kind, bringing together a nationally recognized, integrated healthcare system with a broad clinical and graduate medical education footprint and a leading national private university in the heart of Silicon Valley to build a leading-edge approach for contemporary medical education.
“We chose to partner with Santa Clara University because of our shared values and a belief in a more human-centered, forward-looking model of care,” said Sutter Health president and CEO Warner Thomas. “Together, we’re building something that will last. This medical school will train physicians for generations to come and adapt as medicine and patient needs evolve. This is part of Sutter’s larger vision to bring together undergraduate and graduate medical education and training alongside research and clinical care into a dynamic academic ecosystem. We are deeply grateful to Mark and Mary Stevens for their extraordinary generosity and long-standing commitment to both organizations. Their gift will have an enduring impact and create a lasting foundation for physician training that will help improve the lives of millions of patients in the decades ahead.”
Both organizations share a commitment to human-centered values and have served California communities for more than a century.
Unlike many emerging medical schools that must establish clinical training relationships across multiple organizations, the new school will be embedded within Sutter’s not-for-profit integrated healthcare system, building on the organization’s strong foundation in graduate medical education and giving students the opportunity to train alongside residents, fellows, and multidisciplinary care teams across the system.
“California doesn’t wait for the future—we build it. And that’s exactly what this partnership between Sutter Health and my alma mater, Santa Clara University, represents: a new model for medical education built to support a more innovative, connected healthcare ecosystem,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom, a 1989 Santa Clara alumnus.
“By embedding students directly in a leading, integrated healthcare system, this new medical school is breaking down silos between education, training, and care—and that’s how you expand access, strengthen the workforce for tomorrow, and deliver better outcomes for patients. At a time when we need more doctors in more communities, California is stepping up—training the next generation of physicians in real-world settings, with a focus on innovation, equity, and whole-person care,” Gov. Newsom added.
Sutter Health, whose affiliated physicians have been in the Bay Area since the 1930s, starting with the founding of the Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group, has more than 30 existing physician residency and fellowship training programs. Through its existing medical education programs, Sutter expects to train approximately 575 residents and fellows in 39 accredited graduate-level programs by the end of 2027. This medical school will help further expand physician pathways and address care gaps across the state.
Founded in 1851, Santa Clara’s mission is grounded in a Jesuit tradition of service to others and whole-person care. It provides world-class undergraduate and graduate education across many disciplines, including pre-health and sciences. California’s longest operating institution of higher learning, the university is known nationally for its excellence in teaching, high graduation rates, and alumni success.
A history of philanthropy
Mark and Mary Stevens, who currently reside in Steamboat Springs, Colo., after several decades living in Silicon Valley, have been long-standing champions of both Santa Clara University and Sutter Health. Through their philanthropy and personal engagement, they have helped build and strengthen connections between the organizations, honoring shared leaders and advancing joint efforts in care, education, and innovation, including plans with Sutter to open a state-of-the-art Bronco Student Health Clinic starting in Fall 2026.
Their support has included nearly $40 million to Santa Clara for athletics facilities and programs, for the Paul L. Locatelli, S.J. (’60), Student Activity Center, as well as for an endowed scholarship. Their support of Sutter Health has included a generous contribution to expand cancer care in Silicon Valley in honor of Locatelli, their late friend and former Santa Clara president and priest, and Bart Lally, M.D., a long-time physician leader at Sutter’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation and a Santa Clara alumnus of 1959.
The Stevens family has also supported initiatives such as Scout by Sutter Health™, an award-winning app that helps teens and young adults manage their everyday mental health needs. Together, these contributions reflect a sustained commitment to advancing partnership impact across both organizations.
“As a proud Santa Clara alumna, Board of Trustees member, and long-time Sutter Health patient, I’ve seen firsthand the potential to bring these two organizations together,” said Mary Stevens. “Years ago, we had a vision to honor the outstanding leaders shared by both organizations while also supporting the health of students on campus and the broader community. This medical school represents the natural next step in that journey. Our gift recognizes a perfect match between two organizations that share a deep mutual respect, a dedication to educating compassionate healers, and a commitment to serving the greater good. We believe it will have a meaningful and lasting impact on patients, students, and communities.”
“Mary and I are very pleased to provide the cornerstone philanthropic gift for a brand-new medical school in the heart of Silicon Valley,” said Mark Stevens. “The unique partnership of California’s oldest university, a large and well-respected Northern California integrated healthcare delivery network, and our investment will deliver the next generation of physicians and clinicians. This new school will be at the forefront of the integration of artificial intelligence technology with healthcare delivery.”
A new medical school, born in Silicon Valley
The launch of the school, which will welcome its inaugural class after the completion of a multi-year accreditation process currently underway, comes at an important moment in history as healthcare is undergoing rapid change.
Even as California is experiencing a severe physician shortage, the state and the nation are preparing for an aging population where the number of adults with three or more chronic conditions is expected to nearly triple by 2030. With health challenges becoming more complex, care is more likely to involve professionals working across teams and focusing on physical health as well as mental, emotional, social, and environmental factors.
At the same time, advances in AI, digital health, and data-driven care models are revolutionizing the delivery of healthcare. To meet the moment, faculty and students at the new medical school will have the opportunity to collaborate with Sutter Health’s Innovation Center and Santa Clara University’s new Cunningham Shoquist Center for Applied AI and Human Potential, as well as the University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, its College of Arts and Sciences, Jesuit School of Theology, and schools of business, engineering, law, and education and counseling psychology.
A bold vision for the future of healthcare
Students will have opportunities to train and learn across a wide range of clinical settings, including a growing research and clinical trials environment embedded across Sutter’s care delivery system. As a learning health system with a 100-year history leading pioneering research, Sutter conducts hundreds of clinical trials and digital studies each year focused on improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for rare, common, and complex illnesses. This integration of shared academic capabilities, research, and medical education alongside patient care will help prepare the next generation of physicians to practice evidence-based medicine informed by emerging science, innovation, and real-world clinical experience.
“Our goal is not only to educate the next generation of physicians, but to build a medical education model rooted in real-world practice, innovation, and continuous learning,” said Conrad Vial, M.D., executive vice president of Sutter Health Network. “By integrating clinical care, research, and medical education across a working health system, we can give students meaningful experience in the environments where healthcare is actively evolving and prepare them to lead the future of medicine.”
“Sutter has spent decades building a strong foundation in medical education, with physician resident and fellow training programs embedded across our system,” said Lindsay Mazotti, M.D., chief medical officer of medical education and science at Sutter Health and planning dean of the School of Medicine. “As we continue to expand that footprint, we are creating the infrastructure, faculty, and learning environments needed to support the next phase of physician education and train tomorrow’s physicians across a range of communities and care settings.”
“This investment comes at a time when Santa Clara is building out the future for our students in ways fully consistent with our Jesuit mission and values,” said James M. Glaser, provost and executive vice president of Santa Clara. “The medical school will make Santa Clara a destination for strong pre-health students, who will go on to practice and make a difference in their communities.”
Glaser added, “From the move of our Jesuit School of Theology to our main campus, to the launch of our AI Center, and now the creation of the Mark & Mary Stevens School of Medicine, Santa Clara is committed to providing solutions for our ailing world and opening up opportunities for all qualified students, while leveraging the best that Silicon Valley can bring to bear to these efforts.”
About Sutter Health
Sutter Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system dedicated to providing comprehensive care throughout California. Committed to advancing innovative patient care, healthy outcomes, and community partnerships, Sutter Health is pursuing a bold new plan to reach more people and make excellent healthcare more connected and accessible. Sutter currently serves more than 3.5 million patients, thanks to a dedicated team of more than 60,000 employees and clinicians and 14,000+ affiliated physicians, with a unified focus on expanding care to serve more patients.
Sutter delivers exceptional and affordable care through its hospitals, medical groups, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care clinics, telehealth, home health, and hospice services. Dedicated to transforming healthcare, at Sutter Health, getting better never stops.
Learn more about how Sutter Health is transforming healthcare at sutterhealth.org and vitals.sutterhealth.org.
About Santa Clara University
Founded in 1851, Santa Clara University sits in the heart of Silicon Valley — the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Ranked among the top 15 percent of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, Santa Clara has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. The University has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
Media Contacts
- Angeline Sheets | Sutter Health, Senior Director of External Communications | angeline.sheets@sutterhealth.org | 916-494-9547
- Deborah Lohse | Santa Clara University Media Communications | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121
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Angie Sheets Sutter Health 916-494-9547 angeline.sheets@sutterhealth.org