04/01/2025
Many nurses at Stanford Hospital are facing a challenging reality: sleeping in their vehicles between shifts due to the exorbitant cost of living near the facility, and needing to be within 30 minutes of the hospital while on-call.
The average home price in Palo Alto exceeds $3 million, making nearby housing unattainable for many healthcare professionals.
Nurses like TJ Carella, a registered nurse at Stanford Health Care, are required to be on call and respond within 30 minutes for emergencies.
Living an hour away in Pleasanton, Carella has outfitted a sprinter van with essentials like a bed, mini-fridge, and composting toilet to stay near the hospital during on-call periods. He notes that he's not alone, with at least 15 colleagues adopting similar arrangements.
(..continued below)