Cottage Hospital Surpasses Fundraising Goal

Launched in January 2008, it has been the most successful effort in the not-for-profit hospital’s 45-year history. During a recent gathering at the construction site to celebrate achieving the goal and to tour and review the progress on the project, campaign leaders stressed that its success owes much to the generosity of individuals, foundations, businesses, physicians and Cottage employees.

“This tremendous philanthropic outpouring on behalf of the new Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital is so valued and appreciated,” said Bill Peeples, who served as co-chair of the campaign along with Don Anderson. The campaign structure included a 16-member working cabinet of community volunteers. They were joined by an honorary cabinet comprised of 21 community leaders who lent their support and endorsement to the campaign. “Such generosity will have an impact on the region’s health care for years to come,” added Peeples.

The new Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital will meet California’s mandated seismic requirements for hospitals to withstand a major earthquake and be capable of continuing to provide services to the community. In addition, this construction project will provide a larger facility designed to accommodate the medical technologies that have evolved during the past decades. It will also position the hospital and Cottage Health System to respond to the growing healthcare needs of the Goleta Valley region and beyond. Scheduled to open in early 2014, the completed project will continue the tradition of medical excellence for generations to come.

The total cost of construction, now estimated to be $123 million, is being funded through hospital operations, tax-exempt bonds and community donations. In all, more than 1,100 donors made gifts to the campaign, over half of whom were first-time donors.

Campaign leaders shared details of the successful fundraising drive, and in particular pointed out the following transformational gifts that will support a more modern, spacious and technologically sophisticated medical center:

 Early in the Campaign, local philanthropist Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree committed a pace-setting gift in the amount of $5 million in support of the hospital’s award- winning Center for Wound Management.

 When the new GVCH opens in 2014, its main lobby will be dedicated to the memory of the late George and Dale Cavalletto. Over the years, the Cavalletto couple made many generous donations to GVCH, and in June, GVCH announced a generous $2 million “Capstone” gift from the Santa Barbara-based Cavalletto Charities.

 A Physician Leadership Task Force, chaired by Dr. Larry Harter and including Drs. Dan Craviotto, John Deacon, Michael Gunson, and Brett Wilson, conducted a successful Physician Campaign which raised more than $542,000 towards the building of the new hospital.

 Sixteen departmental “Team Captains” led the GVCH Employee campaign and a record number of employees contributed in excess of $94,000 in support of the new GVCH.

 GVCH Corporate Partner Program Co-Chairs Jim Knight and Craig Zimmerman enlisted the support of Goleta and the greater Santa Barbara community businesses, and Charter Corporate Partners contributed in excess of $528,000 to the new hospital. Charter members include Bacara Resort and Spa, Community West Bank, Cox Communications, ExxonMobil, Marborg Industries, Montecito Bank and Trust, Pacific Western Bank, Rabobank, and Venoco.

 A community-wide appeal was also conducted with a very generous incentive of a $1 million dollar challenge grant made possible by The Wood Claeyssens Foundation, which in total contributed $2 million towards the building of the new hospital.

The new two-story GVCH will total 152,000 square feet; plans include more than doubling the size of the Emergency Department and expanding inpatient capacity, the Surgical Services Department and the Center for Wound Management. The new facility will include 52 beds and will improve patient comfort by providing all private rooms.

Although the Building Well ●Being Well Campaign for the New Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital has concluded, the hospital will continue to seek gifts and grants in support of its new patient-care facilities. Post-construction projects include a Healing Arts program to bring art to the new hospital that focuses on health and wellness and a much anticipated Restorative Garden designed as a place of respite for patients, family and staff.

About Cottage Health System

The not-for-profit Cottage Health System — the parent organization of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and its associated Cottage Children’s Hospital and Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital, Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital, and Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital — is guided by a volunteer board of directors from the greater-Santa Barbara community. Last year, the Cottage hospitals provided inpatient care for 20,000 people and treated 67,000 patients through their 24-hour emergency departments.