Staff Report
Steve Ortiz has joined the volunteer Board of Directors of Cottage Health.
Members of the Cottage Health Board serve without compensation to guide the not-for-profit Cottage hospitals in the mission to provide superior health care through a commitment to our communities and to our core values of excellence, integrity and compassion.
Since 2017, Mr. Ortiz has been the President and CEO of United Way of Santa Barbara County (UWSBC), where he has served as a team member for nearly 16 years.
His background in management and operations has helped guide UWSBC’s success in recent years, with a focus on issues including school readiness and academic achievement, financial empowerment, and response and recovery efforts in times of community crisis. In current periods of crisis, he has worked with partners to identify gaps in response and recovery systems and developed collaborative solutions across the philanthropic, non-profit, and government sectors.
During Mr. Ortiz’s tenure, UWSBC has raised over $70 million to develop and lead innovative community partnerships and programs. He received a Hero of Hospice Philanthropy Award 2020 by Hospice of Santa Barbara in recognition of leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
His board of director experience includes the United Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County from 2010 to 2013, as well as membership in The Foundation Roundtable since 2017. He currently serves as chair of the First 5 Santa Barbara County Commission which helps children prepare for academic success.
Mr. Ortiz earned his bachelor’s degrees from the University of California Santa Barbara and an MBA from Cal Lutheran University. He and his wife, Amber, have two children.
About Cottage Health cottagehealth.org
The not-for-profit Cottage Health is the leader in providing advanced medical care to the Central Coast region. Specialties include the Cottage Children’s Medical Center, Level 1 Trauma Center, Neuroscience Institute, Heart & Vascular Center, Center for Orthopedics, and Rehabilitation Hospital. The Cottage Health medical staff is comprised of more than 700 physicians, many with subspecialties typically found only at university medical centers. Last year, the Cottage Health hospitals in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley provided inpatient care for 21,000 people, treated 80,000 patients through their 24-hour emergency departments and helped deliver 2,100 newborns. Cottage Health also offers Cottage Urgent Care Centers throughout the tri-counties, as well as 24-hour access to providers via Cottage Virtual Care, an online service for common conditions.
