Courtesy photo.
SANTA BARBARA — Cottage Health has appointed Ryan Kelly, Ph.D., as its first Chief Innovation Officer, a newly established role designed to advance innovation across the health system and strengthen strategic partnerships.
Kelly will lead the Compton Center for Medical Excellence and Innovation, where new healthcare technologies and ideas are developed and brought into practice. He will guide the center’s strategy and operations, help advance Cottage Health’s innovations into real-world use and build partnerships with industry and other organizations to support the future of healthcare.
Kelly is a healthcare and medtech innovation executive with more than 20 years of experience building platforms, teams, and partnerships at the intersection of technology, life sciences, and healthcare delivery. He has a proven track record of translating complex challenges into practical, scalable solutions that benefit health systems and the communities they serve.
Prior to joining Cottage Health, Kelly served as Chief Innovation Officer at Inneo, formerly The Innovation Institute, where he led a cross-functional team in developing a first-of-its-kind nationwide medtech innovation platform tailored for community healthcare systems. He also held commercialization and innovation roles at Cleveland Clinic, City of Hope and The Scripps Research Institute, gaining extensive experience in early-stage biotechnology and technology transfer.
Kelly holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Minnesota, an Executive MBA from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is also a published author and frequent speaker on healthcare innovation.
Based at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, the Compton Center for Medical Excellence and Innovation focuses on applying promising clinical, educational, research and digital advances to healthcare delivery.
The Center aims to support Cottage experts and community collaborators in accelerating new projects
that will help improve healthcare. The Center was made possible through the generous support of longtime Cottage Health supporters Mary and Richard Compton.
About Cottage Health | CottageHealth.org
Cottage Health is a not-for-profit health system providing advanced medical care on California’s Central Coast. In the past year, its hospitals in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley cared for 20,833 inpatient admissions, 93,281 emergency department visits and 1,971 newborn deliveries. With more than 700 physicians, including specialists typically found only at university medical centers, Cottage offers expert, comprehensive care. As a teaching institution, it trains physicians through residency programs in medical, surgical, pediatric and radiology specialties. Cottage Health is home to the Central Coast’s only Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center and an advanced comprehensive stroke center. Its specialty services include Cottage Children’s Medical Center, Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital, the Santa Barbara Neuroscience Institute, Cottage Heart & Vascular Center and Cottage Center for Orthopedics. Beyond its hospitals, Cottage expands care through primary and specialty clinics, urgent care centers and 24/7 provider access via Cottage Virtual Care.