Cottage Health announces plans to purchase new homes for its employees – edhat

Cottage Health is creating new home-buying opportunities for its employees by planning two new options that will enable local health care workers to purchase 204 new homes in the Santa Barbara area at below-market prices.

The first location of the new employee homes is the site of the current Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital. Once CRH completes its planned move to the Goleta Valley Cottage campus and obtains all permits, construction will begin on 44 new homes (including parking lots) at 2415 De la Vina Street. The homes will be offered to Cottage Health employees for purchase at below-market prices.

The second location is near Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital on South Patterson Avenue. New apartments are planned for the site, and Cottage has entered into an agreement to acquire 160 apartments to offer homes for workers to purchase at below-market prices.

Construction is scheduled to begin in both locations in 2028, with the first Cottage employee homes available in 2029.

The new Cottage Health workforce homes will follow in the footsteps of a program that has proven successful with its Bella Riviera location, built more than a decade ago and providing 81 affordable homes for healthcare workers. Cottage Health employee homes in Bella Riviera have demonstrated the impact of affordable housing on employee retention and the strong demand for more such options. There are currently 84 employees on the waiting list for one of the 81 employee homes in Bella Riviera. Since these homes became available over a decade ago, 145 healthcare workers have benefited from the program.

During emergencies such as fires and road closures, it is essential to maintain local health workers to provide care. As hospitals across the country compete for the most qualified healthcare professionals to care for their communities, Cottage Health is planning ahead to ensure our community has the medical team it needs to respond to emergencies. Cottage’s affordable employee home purchase options foster a long-term commitment to providing health care to the Santa Barbara community.

About Cottage Health | CottageHealth.org
Cottage Health, a nonprofit organization, provides advanced medical care to the Central Coast region. Last year, Cottage Health hospitals in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley provided care to 19,213 hospital admissions and 85,711 emergency department visits, and assisted in the delivery of 1,886 newborns. Cottage Health’s comprehensive portfolio of specialty services, comprised of more than 700 physicians, many of whom have specialties typically available only at university medical centers, includes Cottage Children’s Medical Center, Level 1 Trauma Center, Neuroscience Institute, Heart and Vascular Center, Orthopedic Center and Rehabilitation Hospital. In addition to its hospital locations, Cottage Health offers primary care and specialty clinics, Cottage Urgent Care centers throughout the tri-county area, and 24/7 access to providers through Cottage Virtual Care (in English and Spanish), an online service for common conditions.