Community leaders, educators and health care officials gathered Wednesday at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital to celebrate an expanded partnership between Cottage Health and the Santa Barbara Unified School District supporting the Health Careers Academy at San Marcos High School.
The event, held at the Ron Werft Amphitheater, highlighted Cottage Health’s $1.5 million investment in the program and marked its new name, the Cottage Health Careers Academy at San Marcos High School.
“We kind of think of this as the Health Careers Academy 2.0,” San Marcos High School Principal Dare Holdren told the News-Press. “We’re expanding into a lot of different areas of health care because there are so many careers students are interested in and so many needs in the community.”
The investment will support curriculum development, instructional materials, facility improvements and other educational resources designed to help prepare students for careers in health care.
Speakers included Cottage Health Board Chair Eric Seale, Santa Barbara Unified Superintendent Hilda Maldonado, San Marcos High School Principal Dare Holdren and Cottage Health President and CEO Scott Wester.
Karen Garcia, a clinical resource nurse in mother-infant care and obstetrics at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and a graduate of San Marcos High School, also addressed attendees, along with representatives from the San Marcos High School Royal Pride Foundation.
The Health Careers Academy at San Marcos High School has operated for about two decades, and school leaders say the expanded partnership with Cottage Health represents the next phase of the program.
The academy currently serves students in grades 10 through 12 and will expand to include ninth grade beginning this fall, increasing enrollment from about 180 students to roughly 240, Holdren said.
Students in the academy complete coursework in areas such as biomedical sciences and mental and behavioral health while gaining exposure to a range of health care professions.
Students also have opportunities to complete internships with local health care organizations and pursue industry-recognized certifications such as certified nursing assistant, patient care technician and medical assistant through partnerships with Santa Barbara City College and national certification providers.
Seale described the academy as an investment in the community’s future workforce.
“This academy creates a bridge from academic excellence to real-world relevance to community transformation,” he said.
San Marcos parent Michele Voigt said the academy helps make health care careers more tangible for students at an earlier stage.
“This academy makes health care careers accessible and real much earlier through hands-on learning, career exposure and mentorship,” Voigt said. “It’s an investment in students and in public education itself.”
“This academy makes health care careers accessible and real much earlier through hands-on learning, career exposure and mentorship,” Voigt said. “It’s an investment in students and in public education itself.”
Michele Voigt
As part of the program’s continued expansion, plans are also underway to construct a dedicated facility for the academy on the San Marcos High School campus with a target timeline of 2027. The Royal Pride Foundation is raising funds to support the project.
Foundation representatives also announced a $500,000 matching grant from a local foundation to help close the remaining fundraising gap.
Maldonado said the initiative reflects a broader effort to connect education with career opportunities.
“Today we aren’t celebrating a donation,” she said. “We are celebrating a bridge between the classrooms of today and the health careers of tomorrow.”
