U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., discussed legislation that would allow rural hospitals to continue operating during a visit Wednesday with staff at Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital and local leaders.
Schiff helped pass legislation that will allow Cottage Hospital, at 2050 Viborg Road, to keep its designation as a critical access hospital. The status applies to rural hospitals that are at least 35 miles away from other medical facilities and increases the amount of reimbursement those hospitals receive from Medicare.
Last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began recalculating the distance between critical access destinations and other hospitals, according to Schiff. Losing the status means that rural hospitals that rely on the higher reimbursement rates to operate would lose that funding.
“For a community like this, to financially jeopardize the hospital that saves lives and has been such a community resource for generations would be a tragedy,” Schiff said.
In late 2025, he joined a bipartisan push by late Congressman Doug LaMalfa and Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith to craft legislation that would allow hospitals that already had the critical access title to keep it.
Glenn Medical Center in Glenn County, represented by LaMalfa, was also at risk of losing its status as a critical access center.
The legislation passed in January will apply to hospitals that were considered critical access as of Jan. 1, 2024, and did not undergo any major changes, such as moving to a new building.
Schiff also confirmed that the new legislation applies to the three hospitals that were at risk of losing their status. He said more legislation may be needed if CMS begins rescinding the status for other hospitals in the future.
Scott Wester, the CEO of Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital, called the hospital “a vital source of health care” for the community. He estimated that the hospital serves about 15,000 people in the valley.
Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital received its critical access designation status in 2009, according to Wester. The hospital offers outpatient services, emergency services, surgery and more.
Wester said the new distance calculations found that Santa Ynez Valley Hospital is only 33.9 miles from the nearest medical facility. The closest hospital is Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria.
Schiff added that the new way that CMS measures distance could have more effects.
One issue he raised is that the agency may consider how newly built roads affect the distance between hospitals, but does not consider the time it takes to make the trip. The senator said that one road that was used to calculate the distance between two hospitals in Northern California is not open for part of the year.
He added that an hour could be the difference between a medical issue causing paralysis or death.
“We’re talking about people’s lives,” Schiff said, “and we shouldn’t use these arbitrary mileage calculations when it has such a profound impact.”
He also warned that rural hospitals are still in danger because of Medicare cuts that go into effect by the end of the year.
“For rural hospitals throughout the country, that is going to be a devastating blow,” Schiff said.
The tour of the hospital was one of multiple stops in Santa Barbara County for Schiff.
On Tuesday, Schiff toured two community centers in Guadalupe — the Guadalupe Union School District’s Early Learning Center and the city’s Senior Center.
On Wednesday afternoon, Schiff talked with students at Allan Hancock College.
Wester took over as CEO in April 2025 and began working with Schiff after he learned the hospital would be losing its critical access status.
“We knew we had to try to figure out a solution, and (we are) more than thrilled to have Sen. Schiff and one of his other colleagues to really work in a bipartisan fashion to get this done for our community and other communities around the country,” Wester said. “(It) is remarkable.”
Securing its status as a critical access location also will allow Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital to move forward with other projects. The hospital was holding off on construction plans and buying new equipment in case it lost its designation.
The hospital plans to purchase a new MRI machine and expand its hours of service, according to Katie Gorndt, vice president of Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital and director of nursing.
Gorndt said the hospital will expand its emergency room to 15 beds so that it can treat more patients. Service at the hospital’s emergency room has increased 2% to 3% every year since 2020, according to Gorndt.