cookiesinheaven

“The trend in restaurants is that folks are trying to cater menus to healthier, fresher options, and given that we’re in health care, it was important for us,” said Gina Weldy, vice president of real estate for Northwestern Memorial. “In the work environment we’re in now, people eat three meals a day near the office. These concepts give us the ability to offer that.” 

Those objectives for the hospital align nicely with a fast-casual restaurant’s operating conditions, Matros said. 

“I like that it’s a 24-hour environment,” he said. “While we’re not 24-hour, there are people [at the hospital] all the time, during [our] breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack [dayparts]. For the people working the midnight shift, their breakfast might be at 7 o’clock. It’s not just doctors and nurses, either. There are lots of support staff, biotech sales reps and pharmaceutical sales reps.” - NRN

Last year was one of the driest years on record in Santa Barbara County, with below-average rainfall and shrinking reservoir levels. Water agencies already are drawing comparisons to the 1987-1991-era drought, and say voluntary and mandatory conservation orders may be coming soon. 

The county is four months into its third dry water year, which started Sept. 1, with only 22 percent of the normal rainfall. Only one location — the U.S. Forest Service station on Figueroa Mountain — has had more than two inches of rain in that time, according to the county’s Public Works Department. 

Every reservoir is drying up, too, officials say. Lake Cachuma, which provides water to five water districts, was at 40.3-percent capacity as of Jan. 1 and many jurisdictions have started using more state water to supplement supplies. - Noozhawk