On March 4th, 2026, Cottage Hospital hosted a ceremony marking a new period in the Health Careers Academy. Moving forward, the academy will be called the Cottage Health Careers Academy.
Cottage Health donated 1.5 million dollars to San Marcos High School, which will contribute to the $11 million Building Community Wellness Project. The Building Community Wellness Project is an effort to construct a mini-campus created for healthcare education, as well as improve the school’s existing wellness center. Construction of the new campus will commence in June once the 2025-26 school year ends. To recognize Cottage Health’s generosity, the academy will be renamed in its honor for at least the next 20 years.
Throughout the celebration, multiple important figures spoke, including Santa Barbara Unified Superintendent Dr. Hilda Maldonado; San Marcos Principal Dare Holdren; Karen Garcia, a clinical resource nurse at Cottage who was a member of the Health Careers academy’s first graduating class; and Scott Wester, the President and CEO of Cottage Health. In all of these speeches, there was a clear central theme. This celebration is not just about a donation, but about creating a bridge between classrooms and health careers of the future.
The Health Careers Academy has been in San Marcos for approximately 2 decades, establishing a strong foundation in the Santa Barbara Community. Starting next school year, the academy will admit 9th graders for the first time, increasing the program’s size from 180 students to about 240. Along with this expansion, the academy will also adopt Project Lead the Way, which is a new biomedical curriculum.
“We are so excited and grateful for this chance to expand the HCA’s reach to its future generation of students in health care,” shared HCA executive board member junior Phoebe Kunin.
This new development will create a positive impact across the San Marcos community for years to come. Thank you to Cottage Health for their generosity and partnership.
