Julie Petrini

Residence: Walnut Creek, California    
Occupation: Retired President/CEO, Sutter Bay Hospitals; Current Healthcare Consultant working with OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University)

How would you describe your religious affiliation and/or spiritual background?

I am a practicing Catholic

In one word, how would you describe the way you feel about the GTU?

Ministry.

What excites you about being a member of the GTU’s Board of Trustees?

To do what I can to support the leadership of ministries in this diverse and complex world. I have so much to learn and I am very excited to do so! It will be challenging, stimulating, and tremendously rewarding to determine where the areas of study go in the future.

What do you find inspiring about GTU 2.0 and the future of the GTU?

Coming from looking through the lens of the unique community of a series of covenants, agreements and contracts to a whole new world that is changing before our eyes…technology, careers and the strategy that we must be poised to go with that new world!

Having been on the executive leadership side of organizations for much of my career, I see that “collaboration and connection” as stated in the 2.0 message is essential and very exciting to me. Reimagining services and curricular models to better prepare students for future opportunities is that pathway!

What else would you like the GTU community to know about you?

Julie Petrini has had an extensive career as a healthcare executive. Ms. Petrini recently retired as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hospitals for Sutter Health Bay Area, responsible for providing leadership over 13 hospitals. Her 40 years in healthcare started as a nurse caring for patients at the bedside and quickly extended into healthcare administration in roles of increasing responsibility, eventually serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for Northern California Kaiser Permanente. During her time at Kaiser, Ms. Petrini twice stepped into the role as chief negotiator for Kaiser’s regional contract renewal with the California Nurses Association / National Nurses United, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States. Crises call for strong leaders, which was why Ms. Petrini was tapped to run incident command for Sutter Health’s response to the 2017 Tubbs Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California history at the time, which included overseeing the evacuation of patients and staff of Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Medical Center. In 2020 and 2021, Ms. Petrini led her affiliates through the Pandemic, accommodating COVID patients being moved within the Sutter Health System as well as many from various hospitals across California. Her hospitals were the first in the state to accept patients from the Grand Princess cruise ship with Ms. Petrini coordinating their transport from the ship to her hospital ICUs. Ms. Petrini has always fostered a diverse and inclusive work environment. During her career, she served as one of two persons of color as a member of Sutter Health’s Senior Leadership Team. Throughout her career, at both Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente, she has strived to represent and amplify the voices of their patients and the communities the organizations served.

Ms. Petrini holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Public Administration in Health Services from the University of San Francisco. She is also a graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School Executive Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was named a “Forever Influential Women in Business” and recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Business” for three consecutive years by the San Francisco Business Times.

Personally, I grew up in the Oakland hills, attended Catholic school all the way through graduate school at the University of San Francisco. I was married to the love of my life for 42 years until his passing 7 years ago. I have been blessed with two beautiful, talented daughters who live here in the Bay Area. I have two teen age grandchildren, one boy and one girl. I currently live in Walnut Creek with my precious 2 year old mix breed, Phoebe. I am doing some healthcare consulting in my “retirement”. I am on the board of directors of the Rossmoor Rotary, as well as serving on the board of another Rossmoor group. I keep myself extremely busy!