Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Emergency Department Begins Renovation Project

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The Emergency Department at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is preparing for a renovation and expansion to increase future capacity and serve growing community needs. During this work, patients and visitors will use a new entrance beginning Wednesday, February 23, 2022 at 6:00 a.m.

The Emergency Department location on Junipero Street will not change. The new entry remains accessible from the same parking lot as the previous entrance, and the driveway remains on Junipero Street. 

Staff will be onsite to assist patients and visitors arriving for care. 

On Monday, February 28, the renovation work will begin. Portions of the original ED will be closed as a temporary interior wall is placed to allow ongoing work during the expansion. This will result in a temporary reduction of ED space during the first 18 months of the project, and staff are prepared to manage and adapt workflows in the reconfigured space. 

When the project is complete the emergency department will have an innovative new care model with custom-designed space for improved workflows and increased efficiencies – all with the goal of improving the patient experience. With more than 40,000 visits each year, the busy emergency department will continue to care for the community throughout the project. The renovated emergency department is expected to open in 2024.

To help connect the community to convenient care, Cottage Health offers three emergency departments, located in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Santa Ynez, as well as 12 Cottage Urgent Care centers with locations from Ventura to San Luis Obispo, and Cottage Virtual Care online. Community members should not delay seeking care when they need it. 

About Cottage Health   www.cottagehealth.org

The not-for-profit Cottage Health is the leader in providing advanced medical care to the Central Coast region.  Specialties include the Cottage Children’s Medical Center, Level 1 Trauma Center, Neuroscience Institute, Heart & Vascular Center, Center for Orthopedics, and Rehabilitation Hospital. The Cottage Health medical staff is comprised of more than 700 physicians, many with subspecialties typically found only at university medical centers. Last year, the Cottage Health hospitals in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley provided inpatient care for 21,000 people, treated 80,000 patients through their 24-hour emergency departments and helped deliver 2,100 newborns.