Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital will hold a special neighborhood meeting on Monday, February 13, to address concerns and answer questions about the hospital’s new helicopter landing pad. It’ll take place at 6 p.m. in the Burtness Auditorium, reachable through the Castillo Street entrance. Those who want to attend are asked to RSVP by calling (805) 879-8937 or emailing information@sbch.org.
The impromptu meeting was organized after the newly constructed helipad, now certified and open for operation, saw more use in recent days than hospital administration and neighborhood residents had expected. Cottage initially predicted two air ambulance landings per per week. Since Tuesday, there have been six landings — five Tuesday night and another Wednesday evening — prompting many city residents to complain about the consistent loud buzzing overhead. Hospital staff has made public assurances that all the transports were needed as medical crews responded to life-or-death emergency situations.