As the construction of Creek’s End progresses into the final phase of excitement for future residents like Presley Burk and Chris DeSantis grows with every passing day.

“I moved to Steamboat in May after graduating from nursing school in Alabama,” Burk said. “I have been working at YVMC since July. Right now, I am in a season of new job, new home and meeting new people — it is a lot of new, but so exciting.”

Burk is a registered nurse who works in the operating rooms at UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center, and is currently living with family in Steamboat Springs. She is slated to move into a shared two room, two bath unit in January.

“This housing development will impact my life in so many ways,” Burk said. “At 22 years old, this development marks the beginning of my transition into adulthood and independence as well as the start of my professional career. The location of the apartment is convenient for my job at the hospital and to continue to immerse myself in the community I now call home.”

DeSantis, who was hired as a field service engineer at the hospital 10 months ago, will move into his two-bedroom, two-bath apartment with his fiancé, Rose Hauer on Dec. 1.

The two have been living in one of the recently built studio apartments on the Colorado Mountain College campus where Hauer is currently enrolled fulltime pursuing a degree. She also works in the operating room at the hospital as a PRN when needed.  But as Hauer, who is in her final semester, approached the end of her college career the couple feared they would need to embark on a new search for housing.

“It had been so hectic before we got in here, but ever since we got the application approval it’s just been like, ‘Okay, now we know we can stay in Steamboat for as long as we want to. Now there is no pressure,'” DeSantis said. “It’s not that my fiancé needs to be working on her nursing degree to stay in the CMC housing, now we have stable housing. Overwhelming relief, and joy would be the two words I used to describe how we feel.”

Creek’s End is a 42-room development UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center purchased as part of the hospital’s long-term housing strategy in support of the retention of current staff members, and the recruitment of new staff members.  

On Friday, officials offered a sneak peek at a ribbon cutting ceremony giving officials and members of the public the chance to see inside the development that includes six one bedroom, one bath apartments, 24 two bedroom, two bath apartments and 12 three bedroom, two bathroom apartments.

The first building will be completed at the end of November with residents moving into the building Dec. 1 and the second should be done by the end of December with residents moving into the building Jan. 1.

Colorado State Rep. Meghan Lukens and Sen. Dylan Roberts were on hand for the event, along with Kevin Unger, president and CEO of UCHealth’s northern Colorado region.

There were also representatives from HLCC construction, who handled the project, as well as developers Curt Weiss and Scott Marr

The two approached Soniya Fidler — president of UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center — a little over a year ago ask if she would be interested in buying a few of the units.

They soon discovered that UCHealth was interested in all the units.

“This is truly a trial balloon,” Unger said of Creek’s End. “We have never dipped our toe in employee housing, but for this facility (UCHealth YVMC) to be sustainable, this was what needed to happen.

He said he and appreciated the vision Weiss and Marrs had to create the new living community, and the efforts of team that put Creek’s End together. He was also thrilled with the speed with which the project came together from the time the idea was floated to completion.

Fidler was among the many smiling faces following the event and expressed her feelings about what this project means not only for the 69 adults and children — not to mention the 34 pets — that will be moving in by the end of the year.

“This is a big deal as far as housing and how you secure housing, so it’s life changing for them,” Fidler said. “It’s shelter over their heads, it’s bedrooms for kids that haven’t had bedrooms and it’s life changing for our teams that aren’t even benefiting from housing, right?”

She said the new housing will allow the hospital to retain the high-quality staff that already works there and attract top-level employees that will improve the teams as the hospital continues to grow.

“I think it is also life changing for the entire community because we get to deliver care and deliver on our mission to improve lives,” Fidler said. “We need this dedicated and skilled talented workforce and are able to do that, ultimately, because we can secure this housing.”