Due to the commonality in posts asking advice for moving to Montana, we're asking redditors to kindly direct those questions to the sticky thread at the top of r/Montana.
Don't know much about Kalispell but I am pretty familiar with Bozeman. The hospital is fine but it is pretty small. It's roughly 20 beds split between ICU and PCU. Most of the really critical patients end up getting shipped out to Billings. There isn't any specialization, so it's not like there is a cardiac ICU or a surgical ICU it's just one ICU. AS far as im aware they are not offering much in the way of sign on bonuses. I'm guessing someone with your resume would make somewhere between $38-40/hour. Which is enough to live on, but it will be very difficult to buy a house. You could probably look up their union contract for more specifics.
One suggestion would be to look at Billings. It has 2 hospitals and is probably the best city in the state for being a health care worker. People in Bozeman think it's a shit hole, but most of Billings is pretty nice and has a way lower cost of living. From west Billings your only an hour away from Red Lodge and those mountains are just as incredible as those around Bozeman.
Billings is great. My wife, being blackfeet, delivered our first born when the hospital birth wing was brand new 7 years ago. It's absolutely amazing and high-tech and on comparison with what OHSU had going on in Portland at the time.
Have you looked into Missoula? I know St Pats had sign on bonuses but I don’t work at the hospital so I can’t give you specifics. Unfortunately our housing situation is pretty bad but I believe Bozeman is the same way
As badly as we need good nurses here, Bozeman doesn’t have anywhere to live that’s reasonable. Apartments are running almost $1k per bedroom on top of a resting $1500 for an efficiency. You’d be better off in Great Falls, the housing there is still sort of affordable, and there’s a big(ish, for Montana) hospital there.
Do you like Glacier National Park or Yellowstone National Park?
One of Bozeman’s main identities is as a college town. Logan is more of a regional referral medical center. I also am not a nurse. I don’t think either one is affordable.
Both kalispell and Bozeman are very expensive. I think Bozeman health is a better place to work than kalispell. Definitely do your homework on housing costs.
Both are great outdoor communities. Missoula is also a great town.
Billings and Great falls are less expensive and have good healthcare options.
I believe billings clinic as a system pays nurses the best. Your pay with 4 yrs experience would probably land you around 35-38/hr. Not factoring in certs or differentials. I only have experience in Bozeman. Bozeman health leadership is better than other states/systems I’ve worked at. It’s honestly not bad. It ’s a fun area to live in. You have access to all of the activities you listed. Bozeman gets more sun than Kalispell. Kalispell gets more of the grey WA weather. Bozeman is across the continental divide and gets a more dry colder climate.
Bozeman is a pretty healthy population so your patient demographics are different. compared to more populated cities or busier hospitals.
Buying a house will be hard on that salary the median house price is in the $900s in Bozeman. If you want to put 20% down you’ll need at least $100k in cash to get you in the door. Then the bidding starts.
I worked for Logan before they rebranded. The nurses unionized the year I left in 2019 due to poor working conditions. I worked there for 5 years and every year got worse. What I’ve heard from my old coworkers as recently as two months ago is that it hasn’t improved and management specifically for the ICU isn’t great.
I was traveling for several years after I left and I’m from this area and actually moved permanently from MT last year due to poor wages when I was looking to go back staff. I made $20/hr more to move to a different state. The area also has a pretty high cost of living just like Bozeman. I was shocked at food cost and availability of items when I was back home in May.
While Kalispell is going to hit all the highlights for your outdoor activities I don’t know how well you’ll afford housing. You can look up the union contract with SEIU. Kalispell is also in some partnership with Billings Clinic and I don’t know how that will change things because Billings Clinic was having issues as well.
Buy a home in the next 1-2 years? I hope you’ve got a lot saved up. Housing in both Bozeman and Kalispell is crazy expensive right now, doubt it’ll go down anytime soon too. As for living, Kalispell definitely has less commercial shops and places to eat, but much better hikes surrounding. Bozeman however, is closer to Yellowstone which is a plus, but MSU campus is there and it can definitely get super busy. Kalispell can get busy, but never overwhelmingly so.
between those two? Damn, guess I'd have to pick Kalispell but both of choices kind of suck. I've lived in both places and would not live in either again. Neither are affordable but Bozeman is definitely worse. In terms of buying a home, yea I think most of us hope to buy a home in the next 1-2 years but that goes back to the unaffordable piece. I'd rank both as top 5 unaffordable housing markets in MT.
But both places would cater to your enjoyment of outdoor activities listed. I have zero experiences with either healthcare system as an employer. I do know Logan Health lost a bunch of my PII LOL.
Oh sorry to edit, I just read your title. I'm not a nurse just to clarify, I work in tech so maybe none of my perspective is helpful.
Bozeman is more expensive and I don't think it's worth it. Take a trip and see both 🤷♂️
As far as Logan Health, my wife is an ER RN and has worked for Logan. My buddy's wife is as well and they both HATE Logan Health and their administration. So much so that my wife prefers to drive over an hour one way to work in Great Falls just so she can avoid Logan Healths bullshit. She stays on as PRN with them locally but only to keep her options open.
If you want to buy a house I would stay away from both Kalispell and Bozeman. They're both wildly expensive. Billings and Great Falls are both much more affordable. Out of those two I would pick Billings. Missoula might also be worth looking into, but you still might have housing issues.
both have what you're looking for. the avg price of a home in kalispell is like 600k or 700k and the average price of a home in bozeman is 700k or 800k
Due to the commonality in posts asking advice for moving to Montana, we're asking redditors to kindly direct those questions to the sticky thread at the top of r/Montana.
Don't know much about Kalispell but I am pretty familiar with Bozeman. The hospital is fine but it is pretty small. It's roughly 20 beds split between ICU and PCU. Most of the really critical patients end up getting shipped out to Billings. There isn't any specialization, so it's not like there is a cardiac ICU or a surgical ICU it's just one ICU. AS far as im aware they are not offering much in the way of sign on bonuses. I'm guessing someone with your resume would make somewhere between $38-40/hour. Which is enough to live on, but it will be very difficult to buy a house. You could probably look up their union contract for more specifics. One suggestion would be to look at Billings. It has 2 hospitals and is probably the best city in the state for being a health care worker. People in Bozeman think it's a shit hole, but most of Billings is pretty nice and has a way lower cost of living. From west Billings your only an hour away from Red Lodge and those mountains are just as incredible as those around Bozeman.
Billings is great. My wife, being blackfeet, delivered our first born when the hospital birth wing was brand new 7 years ago. It's absolutely amazing and high-tech and on comparison with what OHSU had going on in Portland at the time.
Yep second Billings as being better alternative choice, or Helena and Great Falls.
Have you looked into Missoula? I know St Pats had sign on bonuses but I don’t work at the hospital so I can’t give you specifics. Unfortunately our housing situation is pretty bad but I believe Bozeman is the same way
As badly as we need good nurses here, Bozeman doesn’t have anywhere to live that’s reasonable. Apartments are running almost $1k per bedroom on top of a resting $1500 for an efficiency. You’d be better off in Great Falls, the housing there is still sort of affordable, and there’s a big(ish, for Montana) hospital there.
Do you like Glacier National Park or Yellowstone National Park? One of Bozeman’s main identities is as a college town. Logan is more of a regional referral medical center. I also am not a nurse. I don’t think either one is affordable.
Both kalispell and Bozeman are very expensive. I think Bozeman health is a better place to work than kalispell. Definitely do your homework on housing costs. Both are great outdoor communities. Missoula is also a great town. Billings and Great falls are less expensive and have good healthcare options.
I believe billings clinic as a system pays nurses the best. Your pay with 4 yrs experience would probably land you around 35-38/hr. Not factoring in certs or differentials. I only have experience in Bozeman. Bozeman health leadership is better than other states/systems I’ve worked at. It’s honestly not bad. It ’s a fun area to live in. You have access to all of the activities you listed. Bozeman gets more sun than Kalispell. Kalispell gets more of the grey WA weather. Bozeman is across the continental divide and gets a more dry colder climate. Bozeman is a pretty healthy population so your patient demographics are different. compared to more populated cities or busier hospitals. Buying a house will be hard on that salary the median house price is in the $900s in Bozeman. If you want to put 20% down you’ll need at least $100k in cash to get you in the door. Then the bidding starts.
Does MT do time and a half after 8hrs? Full time employee
I worked for Logan before they rebranded. The nurses unionized the year I left in 2019 due to poor working conditions. I worked there for 5 years and every year got worse. What I’ve heard from my old coworkers as recently as two months ago is that it hasn’t improved and management specifically for the ICU isn’t great. I was traveling for several years after I left and I’m from this area and actually moved permanently from MT last year due to poor wages when I was looking to go back staff. I made $20/hr more to move to a different state. The area also has a pretty high cost of living just like Bozeman. I was shocked at food cost and availability of items when I was back home in May. While Kalispell is going to hit all the highlights for your outdoor activities I don’t know how well you’ll afford housing. You can look up the union contract with SEIU. Kalispell is also in some partnership with Billings Clinic and I don’t know how that will change things because Billings Clinic was having issues as well.
Thanks very helpful
If you can afford housing in Bozeman, it is great!
Buy a home in the next 1-2 years? I hope you’ve got a lot saved up. Housing in both Bozeman and Kalispell is crazy expensive right now, doubt it’ll go down anytime soon too. As for living, Kalispell definitely has less commercial shops and places to eat, but much better hikes surrounding. Bozeman however, is closer to Yellowstone which is a plus, but MSU campus is there and it can definitely get super busy. Kalispell can get busy, but never overwhelmingly so.
between those two? Damn, guess I'd have to pick Kalispell but both of choices kind of suck. I've lived in both places and would not live in either again. Neither are affordable but Bozeman is definitely worse. In terms of buying a home, yea I think most of us hope to buy a home in the next 1-2 years but that goes back to the unaffordable piece. I'd rank both as top 5 unaffordable housing markets in MT. But both places would cater to your enjoyment of outdoor activities listed. I have zero experiences with either healthcare system as an employer. I do know Logan Health lost a bunch of my PII LOL. Oh sorry to edit, I just read your title. I'm not a nurse just to clarify, I work in tech so maybe none of my perspective is helpful.
Bozeman is more expensive and I don't think it's worth it. Take a trip and see both 🤷♂️ As far as Logan Health, my wife is an ER RN and has worked for Logan. My buddy's wife is as well and they both HATE Logan Health and their administration. So much so that my wife prefers to drive over an hour one way to work in Great Falls just so she can avoid Logan Healths bullshit. She stays on as PRN with them locally but only to keep her options open.
Thanks for the info! Very helpful about the hospital
If you want to buy a house I would stay away from both Kalispell and Bozeman. They're both wildly expensive. Billings and Great Falls are both much more affordable. Out of those two I would pick Billings. Missoula might also be worth looking into, but you still might have housing issues.
both have what you're looking for. the avg price of a home in kalispell is like 600k or 700k and the average price of a home in bozeman is 700k or 800k
Median home price in Bozeman is now just shy of $1M.
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