JACKSON, WY — The St. John’s Health Board of Trustees just green-lit a $53.8 million development budget for “The Hitching Post,” a 72-unit apartment complex designed to house hospital employees. Our local hospital is now also a real estate developer, because that’s what it takes to keep nurses and lab techs in Jackson.
Approved at the board’s Sept. 25 meeting, the project will finally move forward with construction planned before the snow flies.
Who’s Paying for It?
The math is classic Jackson:
- $24 million from the Specific Purpose Excise Tax (SPET) approved by voters back in 2022. That is an extra penny on every latte and lift ticket.
- $13.7 million in philanthropic funds raised by the St. John’s Health Foundation, which is almost fully pledged.
- About $16 million coming directly from the hospital’s own pockets.
Because those SPET funds won’t actually hit the hospital’s account until construction is complete, St. John’s will temporarily front $21.8 million of its own money, roughly one-sixth of its cash reserves, to get the project finished. CEO Jeff Sollis said the hospital chose to pay cash instead of borrowing because of high interest rates. (Welcome to 2025, where even hospitals flinch at mortgage math.)
What Employees Will Actually Pay
St. John’s expects the complex to bring in about $1.3 million in annual rent, with the hospital subsidizing roughly half the cost to keep units affordable for staff. Without that subsidy, the payback period would be six years. With it, the hospital expects to recoup the investment in 12 years.
Cost per square foot is anticipated to be around $466 (Jackson “affordable”).
Why It Matters
Hospital leaders have said the Hitching Post project is critical for retaining employees who might otherwise be forced to commute from Idaho or leave the region entirely. Chief HR Officer Thom Kinney called the new housing “a game changer” for recruitment and retention.
And he’s right! It is a game-changer when the only way to recruit a nurse is to build her an apartment within walking distance of the ER.
The Bigger Picture
If this all sounds familiar, it should. Just last week, we wrote about how St. John’s financial struggles aren’t just about Jackson — they’re about America’s broken healthcare system (Read the piece here →).
A hospital shouldn’t have to divert millions of dollars from patient care to become a housing developer. But that’s where we are, a system so warped by regulation, cost-shifting, and staffing shortages that even healthcare institutions are now subsidizing rent just to survive.
The Hitching Post will help St. John’s keep staff in town, no question. But it’s also another reminder that our healthcare model, and our local housing crisis, are symptoms of the same disease: a system that keeps asking public institutions to fix problems Washington created.
TL;DR
- St. John’s Health approves $53.8 million for a 72-unit workforce housing project.
- Funding mix: $24 M SPET + $13.7 M philanthropy + $16 M hospital cash.
- Payback: 12 years (because of rent subsidies).
- Cost per sq ft: $466 (Jackson “affordable”).
- Completion expected by 2028.
- Another chapter in the saga of a hospital forced to build housing because the system and the market won’t.
AntlersArch founder and the voice behind Teton Tattle.
