100 Years of Medical Excellence

For 100 years, Sansum Clinic has been improving the overall health of its patients by providing the latest innovations in equipment, technology, procedures, and treatments. Sansum Clinic is the largest independent nonprofit healthcare organization between Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Its 345 physicians and ancillary medical providers offer the full spectrum of services ranging from primary care to more than 50 specialties and service lines. Sansum Clinic serves more than 124,000 patients annually at its 23 patient care facilities in Santa Barbara County.

“To have the quality of healthcare we have in a community of this size is really unusual,” says Sansum Clinic CEO Dr. Kurt Ransohoff. “Few cities our size have the array of services and sophistication of medical care we offer.”

The 100th anniversary is a milestone that cements Sansum Clinic’s legacy for longevity and innovation. The list of new procedures and technologies Sansum Clinic has brought to Santa Barbara is volumes-long.

One of Sansum Clinic’s founders, Dr. William David Sansum, was a pioneering researcher who launched the clinic with the intent to study and eventually conquer diabetes. He was the first American to successfully isolate, produce, and administer insulin to treat diabetes.

Dr. Joseph Aragon was the first cardiologist to administer catheter-based closures of heart defects. Under the leadership of Dr. Jason Boyatt, Santa Barbara had the first echocardiography lab, underscoring Sansum Clinic’s commitment to quality testing for the diagnosis of heart disease.

Through its recruitment of the best and the brightest physicians, Sansum Clinic has managed to stay at the forefront of the high-tech and high-touch elements of quality healthcare.

“We’ve done a tremendous job of bringing in new physicians who are the first of their kind in this community,” Dr. Ransohoff says. “Dr. Chuck Conway, for example, is our community’s first board-certified Oncological Surgeon. He performs complex surgeries that just couldn’t be done here before. Continually expanding our patients’ access to high-quality care, close to home, is central to our mission.”

Sansum Clinic has played a leadership role in the community effort to administer COVID-19 vaccines to as many people as possible, and has adapted to the major challenges it has experienced due to the pandemic, while still providing the full breadth and scope of healthcare services for its patients. The cooperation and personal sacrifices of the physicians and staff since March 2020 have undoubtedly saved lives. There are hundreds of unsung heroes whose names you many never know, but whose masked faces you routinely see at Sansum Clinic and the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center.