Santa Barbara County Issues 84 Layoff Notices — 47 in Public Health — and Will Close Two County Pharmacies June 30; All Five Health Centers Stay Open

Santa Barbara County issued 84 layoff notices in mid-May while closing a roughly $70 million gap in its $1.64 billion FY2026-27 budget — 47 of them in County Public Health (the largest single share), plus 31 in Social Services, 5 in the Sheriff's Office, and 1 in Fire. County-operated pharmacies in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria will close June 30 (the Lompoc location stays open as a centralized site).

County Health Director Dr. Mouhanad Hammami stressed that all five county health centers will keep operating — but the loss of public-health nursing and social-work capacity, plus the pharmacy closures, will push referral and prescription demand toward Central Coast FQHCs. Final budget adoption hearings are June 16 and June 18.

(This is Santa Barbara County — distinct from San Bernardino County's $10.9B budget.)