Print friendly
E-mail story
Tip Us Off
Comments
Share Article
Facebook
Twitter
Google+1
del.icio.us.
Digg!
Yahoo! Buzz
Diigo
google
newsvine
reddit
technorati
Yahoo!
MyspaceSanta 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.
Related Links
- New Hospital Helipad Sees Heavy Action [ February 7, 2012 ]
Previous Month
Comments
Do they have one at the Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital? The reason I ask is because I heard a helicopter buzzing around in that general location a few mornings ago.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
February 9, 2012 at 9:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And to think they could have put this helipad at Goleta Valley Hospital, along with upgrading its facilities for trauma care, where there are open agricultural fields and flight paths already established. Who paid off who to make DOWNTOWN Oak Park an intelligent choice for helicopter landings, and who is going to pay existing homeowners for their loss in property value? I guarantee that noise is a big negative on resale! I've heard the birds where I live (not close) at 4 AM and it's been disconcerting!
maximum (anonymous profile)
February 10, 2012 at 9:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There is no controversy here. People's lives are being saved with the Helipad, which trumps any complaints about noise. How selfish is it to complain about a little noise when this is the case ?? I cant understand why people dont get how great this World could be if they only cared about other people more than themselves. And before the inevitable "You dont have to deal with it" comments start, I lived in Isla Vista for 6 years so I know a little about nightly noise.
steamroller (anonymous profile)
February 10, 2012 at 10:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's your choice to live in Isla Vista, an incredibly densely populated area. The residents of Oak Park did not choose to have their neighborhood by helicopters. Their "choice" was revoked by careless urban planning and greedy hospital administrators. Do some research on the politics and payola of "trauma" centers. Re the "selfish" argument, who were the players behind the "selfish decision" to choose Cottage over Goleta Valley when either one could have been upgraded and one, GVH, is obviously easier to access by land, sea, or air, than the other!
maximum (anonymous profile)
February 10, 2012 at 10:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Again, Saves Lives !! Shame on those complaining. Really nothing left to say...
steamroller (anonymous profile)
February 10, 2012 at 5:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So, steamroller, just how many helo landings and takeoffs would be too many to make this a controversy then?
John_Adams (anonymous profile)
February 11, 2012 at 3:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maximum has it 100% correct: if Cottage had established the trauma center at Goleta Valley Hospital, with its existing helipad, all of this wouldn't be happening. And, if they'd kept St. Francis operating as a hospital while building employee housing down near the main Cottage Hospital, we all wouldn't have to deal with the cross-town commute of hospital workers. This whole thing reeks. The moniker "steamroller" fits the way that CHS has conducted its corporate self all along.
GregMohr (anonymous profile)
February 11, 2012 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I like how steamroller capitalized Saves Lives. Let's make it one word and put a little trademark on it too:
SavesLives (tm).
Perfect.
Now cover your ears and chant that whenever someone has a problem with a public official or institution. All I ask in return is a modest fee of $0.25 per utterance.
Etna (anonymous profile)
February 12, 2012 at 3:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We moved to Santa Barbara from Venice, CA because we couldn't stand the constant police helicopter noise overhead. I agree that the helicopters need to go to Goleta Valley hospital which has an existing airport and flight paths.
lbuzzell (anonymous profile)
February 13, 2012 at 10:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Steamroller is just looking to annoy.
Just ignore him or her or it......
DCS101 (anonymous profile)
February 13, 2012 at 9:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.
You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that helipad, you need me on that helipad.
We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very helipad that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way.
John_Adams (anonymous profile)
February 14, 2012 at 1:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)