History
- 1908 Santa Barbara Visiting Nurse Association founded – 140 visits the first month
- 1911– 1916 VNA opens a general dispensary, an infant welfare station, begins school nursing program, opens a children’s dental clinic and creates an open air school for pre- tb children
- 1918 VNA cares for community during the spanish flu epidemic – 5,947 reported visits
- 1925 VNA establishes food distribution system following the June 29th earthquake
- 1940 VNA initiates vaccine distribution during the polio outbreak
- 1951 Loan closet opens with funds from SB News-Press
- 1965 Medicare becomes operational and new regulations negatively impact the delivery of care to chronically ill patients
- 1980 VNA is one of 26 programs to participate in the national hospice demonstration project – Average 12,300 visits
- 1994 VNA partners with Hospice of SB to open a residential hospice facility named Leigh Block House, now called Serenity House
- 2001 VNA changes its name to Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care to reflect the addition of our Medicare-certified Hospice program
- 2003 Visiting Care & Companions established to provide non-medical care
- 2005 Purchases property and begins plans for a capital campaign to build a new hospice inpatient facility
- 2006 Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care introduces telemedicine
- 2008 Celebrates 100 years of caring for our community 59,055 visits serving 2,944 client
To find out more about our History, please call us at 805-965-5555 in Santa Barbara and 805-693-5555 in Santa Ynez and Lompoc Valleys or click here