Healthcare Workers Need Housing, and Tuba City Just Delivered

You cannot keep healthcare workers if they have nowhere to live.

Blue Canyon Apartments Bring 48 New Units to Indian Country

The Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation (TCRHCC) officially opened Blue Canyon Apartments on January 30, 2026, a $26 million staff housing complex built directly on the hospital campus. The project, completed in under a year and a half with construction beginning in August 2024, includes 48 units—a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments and 12 short-stay furnished hotel-style units designed for locum tenens, travel nurses, and temporary clinical staff. As reported by the Navajo Times, limited affordable housing in the area has directly contributed to difficulty recruiting and retaining Native health practitioners, leading to longer wait times and gaps in care for Our Relatives on the Navajo and Hopi reservations.

Native Health Workforce Has More Than Doubled in Tuba City

TCRHCC board member Chris Curley confirmed the hospital’s staff has grown from 500 to more than 1,100 over the past 13 years, and the facility was recently recertified as a Level III Trauma Center. Board President Dolly Lane noted that many employees currently drive roughly 70 miles from Flagstaff every day, and the new apartments will allow frontline workers to simply walk to work. According to the Arizona Daily Sun, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren praised the effort, noting the project became reality through strong planning, local leadership, and hard work. We know that housing options for healthcare heroes range from staying with relatives, to motels, RV campsites, and other temporary arrangements—and this investment changes the game for recruitment and retention across Indian Country!

More Growth Ahead for IHS and Tribal Healthcare Staffing

TCRHCC is not slowing down. The corporation has plans for an $87 million, 92-unit housing project to support its upcoming $170 million, 123,000-square-foot Echo Cliffs outpatient facility, expected to open in fall 2026. TCRHCC CEO Joette Walters stated that one of the first questions healthcare recruits ask is where they can find affordable, safe local housing. These culturally competent investments in staff housing directly improve continuity of care for elders and Native populations across the region, addressing longstanding challenges that Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities face when staffing remote locations. Culture awareness and community-centered planning are driving these solutions from the ground up.

Ellsworth Stands Ready to Support Tuba City and Indian Country

As the CEO of Ellsworth, a Native owned small business and certified Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise (ISBEE), I was born in Tuba City, and it is incredibly meaningful to see Our Relatives getting the infrastructure they deserve. Ellsworth provides Indigenous healthcare staffing solutions for IHS facilities, tribal hospitals, and urban Indian health programs across the country. We understand the unique needs of Native practitioners and the communities they serve because we come from those communities. Congratulations to Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation, the Navajo Nation, and every frontline worker who will call Blue Canyon Apartments home. If your facility needs culturally competent healthcare staffing support, Ellsworth is here for you—because when our people get better care, all of Indian Country moves forward.