UCHealth sets up workforce housing in Steamboat Springs

It's the kind of news that can change someone's entire life: 42 affordable housing units are coming to full-time UCHealth employees in the Yampa Valley next year. Considering the current employees spend a good amount of time figuring out where they can live next when their leases are up, this is a huge sigh of relief if they're one of the lucky ones to get a unit. 

Surgical technologist Taylor Thurlo said for her, this would mean she could actually stay in Steamboat Springs. She's been working as a travel employee (think similar to a temp employee) for almost two years now, perpetually trying to find the next place to stay so she can keep working with a team she loves and in an area she adores. 

"Hunting for so long," Thurlo said, "My first lease here was a six-month lease, I started looking about 4 months early, took all of that 4 months to find a place.. .everything kind of fell through but I did get lucky at the last minute with the place that I am renting now."

"If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have been able to stay this long."

There are plenty of people UCHealth believes did not get lucky. That's partially why they're building this new housing complex, to help retain and attract new employees, and help create a place where they can grow within the company without worrying about where they'll need to move in a few months. 

"Our people are our most important asset," UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center President Soniya Fidler said at the construction site Wednesday morning. "Without our people, we can't provide that care, so it is inevitable that we have to go ahead and make that significant investment in our people."

UCHealth previously attempted to get into the workforce housing building situation in 2007-2008, but you can probably guess what happened with that plan (the recession, remember?) They still have 12-15 units but those are not long-term, just short-term landing spots for employees to then try and get into the housing game, with stays only up to a year max. These new units have no lease end date. 

"It would mean that everything could change for the staff here," Thurlo said. "It could mean people could live affordably, comfortably, not have to worry about when their place is going to be sold, or when they are told they can no longer renew or that their rent is raised to a point to where they can't afford it anymore."

Thurlo explained several of her coworkers live outside of town where rates are more affordable and leases are more stable, but that kind of luxury (if you call that one) is not one she can afford. She needs to be able to come to work within 20 minutes' notice, and that means living inside Steamboat proper. These new units will accomplish that tight timeline, should she be lucky enough to get one. 

Speaking of which, when the units are done being built, estimated to be the end of 2024, all full-time employees can apply, but the units will go out based on a weighted lottery. Things like job requirements and income will play into how high up on the list you can be drawn, and then a raffle will decide the order. After that initial drawing, anyone after that will be added to the list at the bottom, according to Fidler.