Intermountain Health is no longer offering grants to help all front-line workers pay back their student loans, dealing a financial blow to some Colorado nurses who were counting on that money.
Brendon Phillips, a nurse at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, said he received one $5,250 payment last year instead of a signing bonus, and was counting on a second payment this year. But in December he received an email stating nurses and emergency medical technicians at the hospital no longer qualified for help repaying their student loans.
“It’s already pretty tough to make ends meet with student loans,” Phillips said, adding that his finances already were going to be tight this year because he anticipates missing work while recovering from a surgery. “I don’t think nurses should be the ones getting the blame for the hospital not making enough money.”
Intermountain, a Utah-based health system that merged with the SCL Health hospitals in Colorado in 2022, previously offered up to $10,500 over two years for employees to put toward their student loans. It called the program “loan forgiveness,” though since Intermountain doesn’t own employees’ loans, it was helping pay them off, rather than forgiving them.
Spokeswoman Sara Quale said the decision not to offer the payments to as many employees this year was part of a process of “harmonizing” the benefits offered at different facilities. Some employees in hard-to-fill jobs can still receive those payments, and those who don’t qualify for help repaying their loans can still take advantage of financial assistance from Intermountain if they’re working toward a new degree or certificate, she said.
In addition to Saint Joseph Hospital, Intermountain owns Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, Platte Valley Hospital in Brighton, and St. Mary’s Medical Center in Grand Junction.
In December, Children’s Hospital Colorado also created waves among its staff with a plan to reduce its tuition assistance. The Aurora hospital reversed course and agreed to grandfather in employees already receiving tuition assistance, while applying a lower cap to those enrolling in the future.
Bethany Stoupine, a nurse at Saint Joseph Hospital, said the loan payments were a significant factor in her decision to take a job there in July. She had hoped to use the payment to zero out her remaining $5,000 in student loans this year, but without it, she’s going to have to hold off on plans to start growing her savings.
She said she also sees it as part of a pattern of society not supporting health care workers.
“Student loans are very expensive and with wages not matching the rate of inflation, I was really counting on this stipend in my budget,” she said.
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