New Leaders Welcomed

Hospice of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce its new board president, Jacqueline Marston, and also welcomes six new members to its board of directors: Gina Becchetti, Samuel Capra, Joann Hollingshead, Lori Lewis, Donna Barranco Fisher Yates, and Marilee Zdenek.

Hospice of Santa Barbara officially opened its doors in 1974, making it the second oldest hospice program in the United States. Alice Heath, who founded Hospice of Santa Barbara with the help of Altrusa Club and other interested citizens, served as founding president and first executive director.

In 1980, Hospice of Santa Barbara partnered with the Santa Barbara Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) to participate in the Hospice Demonstration Project, a federally funded study that made hospice care reimbursable by Medicare. In 1990, Hospice of Santa Barbara relinquished its home health agency license to collaborate again with the VNA to provide hospice services.

Hospice of Santa Barbara is a volunteer hospice organization — a hospice that emphasizes the emotional, social, and spiritual care needs of the terminally ill and their families. It provides all services free of charge. It does not provide nursing care, and works closely with all home health agencies, certified hospice programs, and private duty agencies to meet the nursing needs of patients.

In 2008, Steve Jacobsen was hired as executive director of Hospice of Santa Barbara and works to lead the organization to continue to meet its mission to provide care to anyone experiencing the impact of life-threatening illness or grieving the death of a loved one.