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2006 Award Recipient:
Ron Werft, Cottage Health System
 The
not-for-profit Cottage Health System has been part of the greater
Santa Barbara community since the late 1800s when 50 determined
women opened the 25-bed Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and Sanitarium.
Now more than 115 years later, the modest three-story redwood
structure built on what was then the outskirts of town has grown
to a three-hospital network with more than 500 beds serving the
healthcare needs of the entire Central Coast. Led by President
and Chief Executive Officer Ron Werft, the system is made up of
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, a regional teaching hospital and
trauma center, with its associated Cottage Children’s Hospital;
Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital, which affiliated in 1995;
and Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, which joined the system in
1996. With more than 2,400 employees, Cottage is the largest provider
of acute-care hospital services in Santa Barbara County.
Mr.
Werft joined Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in 1987 as executive
vice president and chief operating officer. He was named system
president and chief executive officer in 2000. Working closely
with the 19-member voluntary board of trustees, Mr. Werft and
his management team are moving Cottage Health System to yet another
chapter in its long history – the new building and retrofitting
and expansion of the three hospitals to meet State of California
seismic requirements. The construction projects are among the
biggest and most comprehensive ever done in the history of Santa
Barbara County. All construction will be completed by the end
of 2012 with state-of-the-art hospitals to serve the entire Central
Coast.
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