OUR MISSION

Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics provides high quality, comprehensive, affordable healthcare to all people, regardless of their ability to pay, in an environment that fosters respect, compassion and dignity.

COVID vaccines and boosters are available at all of our clinics. 

The Passing of Andria Barnes Ruth, MD

It is with heavy hearts that we must inform our SBNC family that our long time coworker, beloved pediatrician and valued friend, Dr. Andria Ruth, passed away on Thursday, June 29th. Dr. Ruth was nothing if not a powerhouse, an empathic listener, a highly experienced clinician, a fierce supporter of children, their parents and the health system that cares for them. She leaves behind her husband Dr. Robert Ruth and her three children.

She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1986 and earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1990. She found her work home at SBNC over 20 years ago, and helped innumerable parents learn to care for and raise their children with wisdom, humor and intellect.

Andria cared for all children, be they blessed or needy, be they only in need of well child care, or children with disabilities that might frighten off less seasoned physicians.

In the last few years, she was instructive in helping to bring a Pediatric Residency Training program, in partnership with Cottage Hospital, to Santa Barbara. We can only hope that the new pediatricians trained in the program will be imbued with the spirit of Dr. Andria Ruth.

We are coming up with a plan for us to memorialize our beloved Dr. Andria Ruth and will keep our SBNC family informed.

What’s New at SBNC?

Register to Vote at SBNC’s Clinics on September 19th

SBNC will hold its 2nd annual Voter Registration Drive to celebrate National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, September 19.  In keeping with SBNC’s vision of Healthy People Healthy Communities, we are proud to partner with the nonpartisan organization Vot-ER and National Association of Health Centers to offer this service to our staff, patients, and the neighborhoods we serve. Through Vot-ER’s tools and training, health care professionals can promote civic engagement in healthcare spaces, to get to a more inclusive democracy that can lead to healthier communities across the United States.

Registration will take place at all of our medical clinics and the Bridge Clinic. SBNC volunteers will be ready to help register eligible 18 years old and older patients and other members of the community. In California, 16 and 17 year olds can pre-register.

Registration will be contact-free using our badges and a QR code – all that is required is the patient’s phone.  The badge scans directly to the website: www.TurboVote.org, an online tool that can guide through the voter registration process.  Patients can also check their registration status or change name and address.  The process takes less than 3 minutes.

SBNC’s Mobile Clinic Takes to the Streets

Mayor Randy Rowse brings out the big scissors to cut the ribbon on our new Medical and Behavioral Health Mobile Unit | Credit: Callie Fausey

SBNC has put an exam room on wheels. Well, it’s actually two private exam rooms, a bathroom, vaccine storage, and a whole host of medical equipment for checking up on the people who can’t make it out to a clinic themselves. It’s a rudimentary but ingenious suggestion to solve a complex problem: If people can’t come to the clinic, why not bring the clinic to them? The new “Medical and Behavioral Health Mobile Unit” — as well as a separate van for dentistry that’s still in the works — will be hitting the streets this fall to do exactly that.

The $300,000 mobile unit (paid for by one anonymous donor) will reach schools across Santa Barbara and Goleta, as well as senior centers, health fairs, agricultural sites, and other locations. It’ll be staffed by a medical provider, medical assistant, behavioral health specialist, and a nurse.
Read the full article in the Santa Barbara Independent.