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,” she said.

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, Cottage said.

To learn more about Cottage Health Graduate Medical Education programs, visit cottagehealth.org/residency-programs.