Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital
Legal name: Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 952224265
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Solvang, CA, US
- Phone
- 805-686-3965
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Hospital, General
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $35,799,647
- Expenses
- $29,459,406
- Assets
- $94,373,047
- Liabilities
- $4,255,512
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
28 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Ronald Werft (President & CEO)
- KATIE GORNDT (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Ronald Werft (President & CEO): $2,100,995 total reported compensation
- Lisa Moore (Executive VP and COO): $1,236,753 total reported compensation
- Kristin Tufvesson (Senior VP and CFO): $1,182,544 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
It is the mission of Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital (SYVCH) to provide superior health care for and improve the health care of our communities through a commitment to our core values of excellence, integrity, and compassion. SYVCH is a rural hospital and is designated a critical access hospital. The hospital provides critical emergency services which allow for local stabilization of the patient and transfer to an affiliated hospital that provides a higher level of care.
What it reported doing in 2024
Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital is a 11-bed acute-care hospital located in the rural area known as the Santa Ynez Valley. In 2024, the Hospital had 485 patient days, served 32,037 outpatients including emergency services to 11,168 patients. The Hospital provided essential emergency treatment, inpatient acute care, outpatient surgical services, imaging diagnostic services, infusion services and cardiac rehabilitation services to the residents of the Santa Ynez Valley, including the communities of Solvang, Buellton, Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, and Ballard. Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital provides emergency services to anyone seeking care, regardless of their ability to pay. The hospital is diligent in ensuring that all patients have adequate access to care. All patients who do not present with insurance are automatically screened for eligibility in government health programs and are assisted in applying for financial assistance if the patient does not qualify for any other assistance. Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital provides critical funding for community health and education with external grants, while also realizing shortfalls Medi-Cal and indigent care. External grants were provided which aimed at specific community needs for at risk populations (indigent; substance abuse recovery; elderly; family counseling). In addition, the hospital provides support of nursing education, provides low cost exercise program for seniors, supports a local health fair and the provision of flu shots to the community. In 2024 the hospital spent over $3.5 million on these programs .
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 95% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 73
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.9%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 17.7%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.2; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 74.9% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $25.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $2.1M · 28 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.3M reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 12 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.