St. Luke’s buys McCall building for workforce housing

The St. Luke’s Health System bought a commercial property in McCall to help with the problem many of its employees have with finding affordable housing in the area. St. Luke’s made the announcement on April 21 that it has purchased the property at 212 N. Third St., a two-story mixed-use property that has 10 studio apartments plus four retail spaces on the ground floor.

St. Luke’s housing woes

As recently covered in the Idaho Business Review (IBR), St. Luke’s McCall Medical Center (SLMC) is no stranger to losing prospective employees because of a lack of affordable housing in the McCall resort region. In March, the IBR asked Amber Green, chief operating officer and chief nursing officer (COO/CNO) of SLMC, how many people had turned down offers to work at the hospital because of housing. Green replied that: “It’s honestly hard to determine how many people, as they don’t always give us an answer for declining a position…I would say one to two offers per week that we make to individuals could potentially be related back to the housing difficulties and the inability for them to find housing or affordable housing in McCall.”

In its April 21 statement on the McCall property’s purchase, the health system commented on its rationale for the acquisition: “To counter the inability to fill permanent positions, (SLMC) is contracting with more agency staff to fill the need. Agency staff, also known as travelers, are short-term contracts, typically three months, and are used to fill staffing shortages and support seasonal peaks…St. Luke’s McCall currently has contracts for 14 travelers. They are filling staffing gaps in surgical services, lab, medical imaging, nursing and clinic support positions.”

“This year we have had to contract with more travelers for longer periods of time and for positions we typically have not had a need for in the past,” Green said in the statement. “Recently, we’ve had travelers turn down positions due to the lack of housing and the cost.”

Purposing the property

The zoning for the property is community commercial, which encourages mixed uses that combine multiunit housing with commercial space where properties are “expected to provide at least 50% ground floor area in commercial or public uses,” as described in McCall’s land use ordinances.

St. Luke’s intends to use the property for agency staff. SLMC will also consider making the studio apartments available to permanent staff members if the units meet their housing needs.

“Having access to 10 new studio units will make a big difference in our ability to accommodate housing needs of travelers and permanent staff, which have become necessary for us to continue to provide services,” Green said.

As for the commercial space on the ground floor, SLMC stated: “Plans for the retail space are currently being explored.”

The St. Luke’s McCall Foundation played an active role in identifying and securing the property for St. Luke’s to purchase. “We’re so grateful to the foundation for their commitment to health care and supporting our workforce housing needs,” Green said in the purchase announcement.

SLMC housing in McCall

SLMC’s housing woes are not new. It has gradually acquired housing around McCall over the last several years. In addition to 212 N. Third St., SLMC owns a single-family residence, two duplexes in McCall. It also leases an additional home near the hospital. These are currently used for short-term accommodations for medical residents, clinical rotations and to house St. Luke’s staff members traveling from other sites.

Even with its current portfolio of housing, SLMC is still not out of the woods with regards to affordable housing for its employees in McCall. “We are still lacking in housing options for our permanent staff and are exploring opportunities to meet this need,” Green said.

As a measure of the difficulty of finding affordable housing in McCall, the median home price in the city according to realtor.com for March 2022 was $645,000.