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SANTA BARBARA, CA—December 16, 2025—Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital has earned Top Teaching Hospital recognition for outstanding achievement in patient safety and quality from The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit national watchdog organization.
Among thousands of hospitals in the country, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is one of 20 hospitals in California and one of just 73 nationwide recognized as a Top Teaching Hospital.
“We are proud to be recognized as a Top Teaching Hospital by The Leapfrog Group,” said Barbara Conviser, Vice President, Quality Support Services. “Our residency programs have long been a point of pride for Cottage, and this recognition affirms the daily contributions of our faculty, staff, and resident physicians in delivering high-quality care.”
To qualify for the distinction, hospitals must rank top among peers on the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which assesses hospital performance on the highest standards of care. More than 2,400 hospitals were considered for the award, and less than 7 percent earned the honor of Top Hospital in one of four categories: children’s, general, rural and teaching.
Cottage Health’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs provide comprehensive training for resident physicians in surgery, radiology, internal medicine and pediatrics at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. For more than a century, Cottage has offered residency training that combines the breadth of a regional tertiary care and Level 1 Trauma Center with the focus of a community teaching hospital. The program is one of the oldest physician training programs in the Western United States and continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of medicine.
To learn more about Cottage Health Graduate Medical Education programs, visit cottagehealth.org/residency-programs.
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 20,733 inpatient admissions, 91,649 emergency department visits and 2,005 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 residencyprograms 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.
