The former Rehabilitation Institute at Santa Barbara, which became part of the larger Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in September, has been renamed Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital.
For more than 50 years, the 38-bed nonprofit facility has been providing high-quality acute medical rehabilitation services for the Central Coast. Early last year, the Rehabilitation Institute’s governing board approached Cottage Health System to explore options for preserving such services. The result was an agreement by the Cottage board of directors to purchase the assets of the freestanding facility at 2415 De la Vina St., and bring the programs and services under the license of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. More than 150 of the existing RISB staff were hired by Cottage, and others invited to apply for different positions within the system.
The separate philanthropic foundation that was formed in 2007 to support acute medical rehabilitation services also is changing its name to Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation from RISB Foundation. The foundation maintains an independent board of directors, currently headed by Ashley Parker Snider, and will continue to devote its energies toward charitable giving that supports Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital.