Caring for the Future: The Campaign for Grace Cottage Family Health

Founded by Dr. Carlos G. Otis in 1949, Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital continues the tradition of healing and caring for the community, with primary care provided in two adjoining houses built in the 1840s. While patients’ overall health and well-being remains at the core of everything we do, providing the high-quality care that Grace Cottage is known for has become increasingly challenging in these two old houses that are connected by a winding hallway. In 2018, the clinic had 21,000 individual patient visits, which grew to 31,000 visits in 2022—an increase of nearly 50% in just four years.

In response to this increasing demand for healthcare services, Grace Cottage has risen to the challenge and now has eleven primary care providers in these two homes, along with a total of 50 nurses and other support staff. “It’s quite clear that these old houses with their narrow hallways, uneven floors, and structural challenges were not built for this kind of use, even with the frequent renovations we’ve made,” said Dr. Tim Shafer, who has practiced medicine at Grace Cottage for more than 40 years. “It’s just not sustainable.”