Courtesy photo.
SANTA BARBARA — After serving 37 years at Cottage Health, the last 24 years as its President and CEO, Ron Werft has announced his plans to retire in 2025.
“On behalf of Cottage Health’s Board, we thank Mr. Werft for his many contributions that will continue to benefit this community for generations. He is a skilled and compassionate leader with extraordinary vision and understanding of health care,” said Mr. Steve Zola, chair of the Cottage Health Board of Directors.
Cottage Health was formed in 1996 and serves as the not-for-profit parent organization of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and the affiliated Cottage Children’s Medical Center, Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital, Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital and Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital.
Over the past four decades, under Mr. Werft’s leadership, Cottage has grown to become a regional healthcare system. Expanding access to exceptional care within the community, Cottage Health now offers specialties in trauma care, neurosciences, cardiology, orthopedics, pediatrics, psychiatry and other regional services.
With Mr. Werft’s leadership, a new Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital was built in the footprint of the previous hospital buildings — a complex 20-year project maintaining continuous patient care throughout eight phases of construction to meet new seismic safety regulations. A new Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital was constructed, with plans underway to move Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital to new facilities at the Goleta campus, and Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital continues to expand services as a nationally recognized critical access hospital. The Cottage Center for Population Health and Cottage Health Research Institute were created, and new partnerships with area colleges have been established to support nursing and other health professionals – all to improve health, serve community members and help ensure access to care.
Mr. Werft guided Cottage in expanding outpatient services and clinics to provide more access to care, and with Mary and Richard Compton – who made a record $65 million gift to Cottage – envisioned the Compton Center for Medical Excellence and Innovation to advance healthcare for the region. A culture of shared governance and core values of excellence, integrity, and compassion are cultivated throughout Cottage, elevating the quality of care, patient experience and employee engagement.
Prior to joining Cottage Health, Mr. Werft held leadership positions at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego and earned a Master’s in Hospital and Health Care Administration from the University of Minnesota. His volunteer leadership includes service as a trustee of the American Hospital Association, chair of AHA’s Region 9 Policy Board of California Hospital Association, and of the Hospital Association of Southern California. He has served on the boards of Santa Barbara Partners in Education, CenCal, Santa Barbara Fighting Back Coalition, Vizient West Coast, United Way, and World Telehealth Initiative. He was awarded the 2013 CHA Award of Merit for outstanding contribution to the California healthcare community and the 2015 Walker-Sullivan Fellowship presented by California Health Foundation & Trust.
“The opportunity to lead Cottage Health has been and continues to be a joy, privilege, and honor,” said Mr. Werft. “Cottage is an extraordinary organization, and every day I see why – it’s an incredible team of employees, physicians, executives, board members, donors and volunteers who are always working to make Cottage even better. They carry forward Cottage’s 132-year legacy of caring in our community.” Cottage Health will begin a national search for Mr. Werft’s successor, to continue his strong stewardship of the community’s independent, not-for-profit healthcare system with a commitment to quality, patient- centered care and improving health throughout the region.
About Cottage Health | CottageHealth.org — The not-for-profit Cottage Health provides advanced medical care to the Central Coast region. In the past year, Cottage Health hospitals in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley provided care for 20,201 inpatient admissions and 87,356 emergency department visits and helped deliver 1,772 newborns. Comprised of more than 700 physicians, many with subspecialties typically found only at university medical centers, Cottage Health’s comprehensive range of specialized services includes the Cottage Children’s Medical Center, Level 1 Trauma Center, Neuroscience Institute, Heart & Vascular Center, Center for Orthopedics, and Rehabilitation Hospital. Beyond hospital settings, Cottage Health offers primary care and specialty clinics, Cottage Urgent Care Centers throughout the tri-counties, and 24-hour access to providers via Cottage Virtual Care (English and Spanish), an online service for common conditions.