Thank you for choosing Cottage Health (CH) for your healthcare needs. For over 125 years, our not-for-profit health system has been providing advanced medical care for patients throughout California. Today, our nationally recognized services provide families with the patient-centered care they deserve.

In 1888, a group of 50 Santa Barbara women recognized it was time for the growing community to have a hospital — a not-for-profit facility dedicated to the well-being and good health of all residents, regardless of one’s ability to pay.

Our mission is to serve our community with excellence, integrity, and compassion. Every day we touch thousands of lives in many different ways, resolute in our mission to put patients first. We take pride in helping our patients get back to living their lives - in the places they love.

Whether it's our exclusive designation as the only cardiac STEMI receiving station in the South Coast or our commitment to stroke prevention and treatment, we move swiftly in emergencies when every minute counts.

Cottage Health is guided by a volunteer board of directors from the greater Santa Barbara community and provides the residents of the Central and South Coast with exemplary health care, continuous improvements in advanced medicine, and a commitment to our communities.

Our medical staff of more than 600 physicians includes specialists in all major clinical areas, many of whom participate in the training and education of some of the top medical residents in the country in our internal medicine, general surgery, and radiology residency programs.

Mission – Vision – Values

Mission Statement

To provide superior health care for and improve the health of our communities through a commitment to our core values of excellence, integrity, and compassion.

Vision Statement

Cottage Health, through partnership with physicians and our communities, is recognized as a California leader in quality care, safety, patient experience, transparency, cost effectiveness, and community health.

More Than a Great Opportunity, Nursing is a Calling…a Purpose…a Mission

For more than 125 years now, nurses at Cottage Health have been making lives better with exceptional patient care grounded in our core values of excellence, integrity and compassion.

Ranked among the nation’s top hospitals, Cottage Health has long understood that nursing lies at the heart of the compassionate care we offer to improve the lives of our patients and their families.

Perhaps Florence Nightingale said it best with, “Nursing is an art.” We know that to be true—it’s a life-saving and life-changing art.

Magnet Inspired Organization

Cottage Health is a Magnet inspired organization striving to achieve and sustain outcomes reflective of our exemplary care. The support of organizational leadership and of our Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) is evident in our daily practice; an example is ceiling lifts located in each patient room in our new pavilions. Examples like this are many and are testimonial to the commitment the organization has to nurses and ultimately to our patients.

Through a robust shared governance program, nurses have opportunities to make changes affecting their practice. Cottage Health offers the tools that enable nurses to provide the quality of care that our community deserves.

Staffing

Each unit determines staffing levels for licensed staff based on a combination of patient classification information, nursing care standards, patient census, and the licensed nurse to patient ratios established by the State of California.

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Philosophy of Nursing

The Philosophy of Nursing within Cottage Health is embodied by our Professional Practice Model (PPM). Our foundation is based on our core values of excellence, integrity and compassion. We stand for teamwork and collaboration.

Caring and compassion for the patient and family is at the heart of what we do. We are guided by research and evidence-based practice to promote quality and safety. Our knowledge and collective vision drive our professional practice and benefit the community through wellness and prevention.

Furthermore, we:

• Uphold and abide by the nursing code of ethics
• Are mindful stewards of resources
• Support and honor a commitment to lifelong learning including advanced degrees and certifications
• Our practice reflects our acknowledgement that Nursing is a blend of art and science.

Learn More about Cottage Health's Professional Practice Model (PPM)