California State University Channel Islands

Santa Barbara, CA July 9, 2010 - Cottage Health System and California State University Channel Islands (CSU Channel Islands) have formed a new partnership to make the CSU Channel Islands Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSN) program available in the Santa Barbara area.

The CSU Channel Islands Nursing Program at Cottage Health System will begin in spring 2012. This will allow a cohort of up to 22 students annually to enroll in the program which will operate as an off-site location for the existing CSU Channel Islands Nursing Program based in Camarillo. Students will be eligible for admission to the BSN program after they have completed the required General Education courses. CSU Channel Islands Nursing Program classes will be offered at a site in Goleta, near Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital.

The collaboration with CSU Channel Islands builds on Cottage’s successful partnership with Santa Barbara City College and its program offering an Associate Degree in Nursing.

Healthcare providers across the nation anticipate a nursing shortage over the next several decades. Currently, nursing schools are not able to graduate enough nursing students to meet the nation’s projected acute care nursing needs.

“With the retirement of our ‘baby boomer’ generation of nurses on the horizon, we know that it is critical to develop our community workforce through additional educational partnerships,” explains Herb Geary, vice president, patient care services and chief nursing officer, at Cottage Health System. “Our collaborative efforts with Santa Barbara City College have shown that nurses who are educated locally are more likely to make a career commitment to Cottage.”

“The partnership with Cottage Health System will promote a workforce educated in the principle of evidence-based practice. The curriculum places emphasis on caring for patients across the healthcare system in public health, hospitals and clinics, and in the home,” states Dr. Karen Jensen, director of nursing, CSU Channel Islands.

This ten-year agreement is being funded by Cottage through a multi-year pledge totaling $6 million. This includes funding for faculty positions as well as capital improvements and equipment/technology for the new Goleta-based campus. Cottage will fulfill this commitment through hospital operating reserves and ongoing philanthropic outreach. CSU Channel Islands will also be pursuing philanthropic outreach for student scholarships for its nursing programs, and endowment support for faculty positions.

Cottage’s partnership with CSU Channel Islands illustrates what healthcare providers and schools of nursing can accomplish together for their local communities. The first cohort of students belonging to this partnership will graduate in May 2014. Off-site delivery of the existing CSU Channel Islands Nursing Program is pending approval from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

For University inquiries contact Joanna Murphy, Assistant Director of Communication & Marketing at CSU Channel Islands, 805-437-8915 or joanna.murphy@csuci.edu.

About CSU Channel Islands
California State University Channel Islands is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

CSU Channel Islands Mission Statement
Placing students at the center of the educational experience, CSU Channel Islands provides undergraduate and graduate education that facilitates learning within and across disciplines through integrative approaches, emphasizes experiential and service learning, and graduates students with multicultural and international perspectives.

For more information visit: http://nursing.csuci.edu/

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 21,000 people, treated 66,000 patients through their 24-hour emergency departments and helped deliver 2,600 newborns.

Cottage Health System Mission Statement:
The mission of Cottage Health System is to provide superior health care through a commitment to our communities and to our core values of excellence, integrity and compassion.

For more information visit: http://www.cottagehealthsystem.org