South San Francisco,CA May 20, 2021 Press Release
More than 60 Sutter Health | Aetna and Aetna team members participated in the 2021 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Virtual Big Climb San Francisco
On May 15, 2021 more than 60 employees, family and community members of Sutter Health | Aetna and Aetna® joined forces to raise a total of $19,853.00 for the 2021 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Virtual Big Climb San Francisco. The annual event, co-sponsored this year by Sutter Health | Aetna and Aetna, brings Northern California corporations and community members together to climb the equivalent of San Francisco’s iconic Salesforce Tower, a total of 1,762 steps, while raising thousands of dollars to help fund lifesaving blood cancer research. Combined, the Sutter Health | Aetna team climbed about 105,720 flights of stairs for charity.
“I am blown away by the level of participation and support our team members at Sutter Health | Aetna and Aetna showed by coming together for this great cause,” said Jeb Dunkelberger, CEO of Sutter Health | Aetna and Co-chair of the 2021 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Big Climb Executive Leadership Committee. “At Sutter Health | Aetna, we are committed to offering access to affordable, quality healthcare for Northern Californians and I am beyond proud of our team for selflessly raising thousands of dollars to fight blood cancer right here in our community.”
Sutter Health | Aetna and Aetna combined to raise the 3rd highest fundraising total across the Bay Area, just behind GetWellNetwork Docent and Salesforce.
“People are the foundation of our core values at both Aetna and the Sutter Health | Aetna joint venture,” said Kristen Miranda, Senior Vice President, Markets at Aetna and Co-chair of the 2021 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Big Climb Executive Leadership Committee. “The passion shown by our team, each training to climb 1,762 steps while fundraising to support vital blood cancer research, is a testament to the character of our employees and their commitment to providing better health outcomes for everyone.”
To date, the 2021 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Big Climb San Francisco raised $289,000 with participation and support from 542 people 34 Bay Area corporations.
“The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is grateful to corporations like Sutter Health | Aetna and Aetna for their continued support not only here in the Bay Area, but for our overall mission to fight blood cancers,” said Renée Croteau, Executive Director, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Greater Bay. “Our corporate teams helped us raise record amounts of money this year that is immediately funding vital lifesaving research.”
This year’s climb was the second annual event in the Bay Area and the second virtual climb year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
About Sutter Health | Aetna
Sutter Health | Aetna is a joint venture that brings together Sutter Health’s network of nationally recognized, high-quality doctors and hospitals with Aetna’s leading health plan expertise, cutting-edge data, analytics and health information technology, and shared care management capabilities. This joint venture aims to deliver a differentiated, personalized experience for members and is designed to improve efficiency and lower the cost of care, resulting in greater affordability.