CARPINTERIA, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CKE Restaurants, Inc. has committed $1 million to The Campaign for Cottage Health System, a program supporting rebuilding efforts for Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. The hospital serves patients along the south and central coasts of California, and is the largest healthcare facility between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The rebuilding effort includes consolidation of the Cottage Children's Hospital service facilities, including state-of-the-art pediatric and neonatal intensive care services; an air ambulance helipad for emergency and trauma patients; robotic surgical equipment; the latest generation of CT and MRI scanners; as well as improvement to its structures, including the expansion and addition of surgical operating suites; a doubling in square footage of the current ED/Trauma Center; and all-private patient rooms, all located within a "healing environment" that doubles the green space of the hospital grounds and provides a place for families of patients to come together.
CKE's gift is the largest corporate pledge that the Cottage Hospital campaign has received so far.
"An undertaking as huge as building a new hospital takes the support of the entire community, including individuals, foundations and businesses," said Ron Werft, president and chief executive officer of Cottage Health System. "CKE Restaurants has a long-standing tradition of investing back in the communities in which they do business. This generous gift to Cottage is a long-term investment in the provision of quality health care for residents on the South Coast and for future generations to come."
CKE president and chief executive office Andrew F. Puzder agreed, saying, "As an international organization headquartered in California's central coast, we are proud to support Cottage Health System in its efforts to rebuild Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital." He continued, "Our founder, Carl N. Karcher, always emphasized the importance of giving back to the community. In continuation of his legacy and on behalf of CKE Restaurants, Inc., its shareholders and employees, I am very proud that we were able to help make the rebuilding of Cottage Hospital a reality.
"Since I began as president and CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc., the Company has committed itself to supporting hospitals and health centers that treat, heal, and rehabilitate injured and ill children. The campaign to rebuild Cottage Hospital has shown sincere commitment to this end, and I am therefore particularly proud of our association with this project, and the care and comfort it will provide the parents and children in our community for many years to come."
CKE's history of supporting local community hospitals and health centers dates back to 1999, when subsidiary restaurant chain Hardee's Food Systems, Inc. donated $1 million to Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in Durham, N.C. The donation supported the McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center (CHC), which focuses on outpatient services for more than one hundred fifty-thousand critically ill children per year.
In 2004, CKE and Hardee's committed $200,000 to St. Louis-based Ranken Jordan, a pediatric specialty hospital in St. Louis. Ranken Jordan specializes in rehabilitation for children who are seriously ill or have been critically injured.
About CKE Restaurants, Inc.
As of the fourth fiscal quarter ended Jan. 29, 2007, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,105 franchised or company- operated restaurants in 43 states and in 13 countries, including 1,087 Carl's Jr.(R) restaurants, 1,906 Hardee's(R) restaurants and 96 La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill(R) restaurants.
For more information please visit http://www.ckr.com/
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, 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 hospitals provided inpatient care for 21,000 people, treated 62,000 patients through their 24-hour emergency departments and helped deliver 2,700 newborns. With a staff of more than 2,500, Cottage is the largest private employer in the County.
