Housing for travel surgical techs and OR staff

Early starts change what a short commute means

Operating rooms run on an early clock. First cases often start around 7 a.m., and the surgical tech is in the room before the patient, opening trays and setting up. That puts many shifts at 6 a.m. or earlier, so the drive that matters is the one in the dark, not the one at noon. Late cases and add-ons can also keep you well past the end of your scheduled shift.

Sterile processing contracts often run on evening and night shifts. There the question is sleep: a dark bedroom and a quiet street during the day.

Call, multiple sites and surgery centers

• Call. Many hospital OR contracts include call, and the hospital sets how fast you must arrive once you're called in, often around 30 minutes. Check your contract, and check that drive at night and in bad weather.
• Ambulatory surgery centers. Freestanding surgery centers (ASCs) aren't in our hospital list. Search by city, or pick the nearest hospital and widen the radius. ASC jobs often have no call and no weekends, which gives you more choice of where to live.
• More than one site. Some contracts float you between a main hospital and an outpatient surgery center in the same health system. Get every address from your recruiter and look for a place between them.

Searching near your OR

You can search any US city, or choose from 5,384 hospitals in CMS data and set a radius from 5 to 50 miles. The map shows listings and hospitals together. Filter by move-in date, price, bedrooms, pets, furnished and property type, save the homes you like, and save a search so you get an email when something new comes up.

Hosts set the dates their home is open and a minimum stay (30 nights unless the host changes it), which fits most 13-week contracts. The 13-week contract housing guide walks through the timing, from signing the contract to moving in.

Questions to ask a host

1. Where do I park, and is the walk to the car well lit at 5 a.m.?
2. Is the rent all-in, or are utilities, Wi-Fi and parking extra?
3. Is there a washer and dryer in the unit?
4. If I work evenings or nights, how dark is the bedroom and how loud is the street during the day?
5. Can the move-in date shift a few days if credentialing runs late?
6. What happens if my contract is extended, or cancelled?

Stipends, privacy and payments

Surgical tech agencies commonly pay a housing stipend, and the tax rules behind a tax-free stipend are the same as for nurses: a real tax home, duplicated living expenses and a temporary assignment. Read how housing stipends work, and look up the GSA lodging rate for your area with the stipend calculator before you set a price filter.

Hosts never see your email address, and you don't see a home's exact street address until you and the host arrange it. Messages that ask for a wire transfer, gift cards, crypto or similar payment get a scam warning, and you can report or block a host. Med Pro Housing doesn't take rent or deposits, so any payment goes straight to the host; get the lease in writing first. If you hold a state license or registration, you can verify it so hosts see a verified badge on your inquiries.

Start from your hospital's name on the search page, or browse housing by state.