Ron Werft

Ron Werft is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cottage Health, a not-for-profit multi-hospital system providing acute inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care. With hospitals in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley, Cottage Health offers a broad scope of clinical services including those of the Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital and Cottage Children’s Medical Center. Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital serves as a teaching hospital for medical, surgical and radiology residents and a regional referral center for trauma, neurosurgery intervention, cardiovascular, psychiatry, and pediatric care.

Werft is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, and holds a Masters in Hospital and Health Care Administration from the University of Minnesota. He is past chair of the California Hospital Association and Hospital Association of Southern California, serves on the board of Vizient West Coast and is a delegate to the American Hospital Association Region IX Policy Board.His local leadership includes service on the boards of directors for Santa Barbara Partners in Education, CenCal Health, and the Fighting Back Steering Committee for the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. 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.