SAN FRANCISCO, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SanLuca today announced a partnership with Sutter Health to support its program for hypertension, integrating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for mood and stress support into chronic condition management. Through the collaboration, patients enrolled in Sutter Sync, a digital care program designed to help patients with chronic disease monitor and manage health conditions at home, can access SanLuca’s virtual care navigator, which delivers education and evidence-based assessments to identify behavioral health needs. Using validated measures such as GAD and PHQ, the system identifies anxiety and depression symptoms and offers patients a structured course of AI-led, evidence-based CBT, supported by continuous safety monitoring.

SanLuca’s AI-driven virtual agents operate with 24/7 human oversight and are tightly integrated into Sutter’s on-call clinical operations, providing safety monitoring and enabling real-time escalation and intervention when needed. The joint program also evaluates the relationship between improvements in behavioral health and hypertension outcomes, supporting a more integrated, longitudinal model of care.

“Integrating behavioral health into chronic disease management is critical to improving outcomes at scale,” said Dr. Richard Milani, chief clinical innovation officer at Sutter Health. “Stress and changes in mood directly impact adherence, engagement and ultimately disease control. Through Sutter Sync, we’re able to meet patients where they are, combining digital access, clinical rigor and continuous support to address both the physical and behavioral drivers of health; this aligns with our continuing commitment to patients and their long-term health.”

Numerous pieces of published research show the value of collaborative care models. For example, The Journal of General Internal Medicine published research in 2023 showing how integrated collaborative care for patients with diabetes and depression led to sustained improvements in both glycemic control and depressive symptoms, demonstrating benefits that last over time.

“Chronic conditions like hypertension are deeply intertwined with behavioral health, yet our system still treats them too often in isolation,” said Randy Womack, CEO of SanLuca. “This partnership with Sutter Health shows how integrated, clinician-led AI can extend evidence-based care beyond traditional settings in a way that is continuous, coordinated, and scalable. By addressing behavioral health and chronic disease together, we improve clinical outcomes, strengthen patient engagement, and reduce the total cost of care for people living with complex chronic conditions.”

CONTACTS:

Noelle Coleman
Mezzanine Advisors
Noelle@mezzpr.com

Andrew Green
Mezzanine Advisors
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About SanLuca
SanLuca, formerly Solara Health, is a clinician-led AI platform that integrates behavioral health into longitudinal chronic condition management. Grounded in evidence-based clinical protocols and real-world care delivery, SanLuca delivers simulation, training, and AI-enabled workflows that enable health systems to integrate clinical AI through a clinician-led, safety-first approach grounded in proven, evidence-based protocols. The result is more continuous, scalable, and financially sustainable healthcare delivery.

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. Currently serving more than 3.5 million patients, thanks to our 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 network of 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.

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SOURCE SanLuca