Veteran Hospital Leader Says Timing is Right for Retirement

Timing is everything.

That’s how Deborah Sugiyama, president of NorthBay Healthcare Group, explained her surprise announcement in December that she plans to retire May 1, culminating a 29-year career that has seen much change on the NorthBay Healthcare landscape.

“There’s no magic to this,” she said with a chuckle. “It just seemed like the perfect break point. The industry is on a path for major change. Knowing that retirement was not far in the offing, I just felt like it was right for me to move aside and let new leadership take on whatever changes come about in the healthcare industry.”

There’s also major change ahead for NorthBay Healthcare, with the expansion of NorthBay Medical Center and the addition of the NorthBay Wellness Center.

“It’s all about fresh, new ideas and leadership,” said Deborah. “That’s what has made this organization successful. I recognize that I’m at the end of my career, and it felt like the right thing to do.”

She began in 1985 as the assistant administrator of what was then Intercommunity Hospital in Fairfield, and later took the reins at VacaValley Hospital. Eventually she assumed responsibility for both NorthBay hospitals and all of our outpatient medical practices.

She was integral in the development of the NorthBay Medical Group, which now has 90 physicians and providers. She was instrumental in creating a comprehensive Heart Center, a Trauma Center and a neurosurgery program.

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