One year ago, Emily Byars, RN, lived in an apartment in Decatur and drove to her job in the neonatal intensive care unit at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta. The commute took about 45 minutes and was especially hard after working a 12-hour shift.

Today, Byars owns her first home, a one-bedroom condo at Twelve Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta.

Photos by BARRY WILLIAMS/Special (ENLARGE)

Twelve Centennial Park in Downtown Atlanta.

(ENLARGE)

Nurse Emily Byars bought a condo at Twelve Centennial Park after an e-mail from Emory HealthCare notified employees about affordable housing.

"I can walk to work in less than five minutes and am much more relaxed when I get there," said Byars, 23. "I'm saving so much time and have really cut down on my gas expenses. Life is so much easier."

Byars credits Emory HealthCare for making her aware that there was affordable housing downtown.

"Last September, all employees got an e-mail telling us about housing options offered by the Atlanta Development Authority and the city of Atlanta's Eastside Tax Allocation District. It said that representatives would be available at the hospital to talk to us," Byars said.

She stopped by the booth, and learned that some homes in the district were subsidized for buyers with lower incomes, such as police officers, teachers and health care workers.

"I love being able to walk to work and to go to downtown restaurants and concerts without worrying about parking," she said. "I never would have known about this opportunity without my employer."

Emory HealthCare offers its employees a "very competitive and employer-friendly" benefits package of medical, dental, vision and life insurance, said Larry Hodges, assistant administrator for human resources. While those benefits promote wellness and are safety nets during emergencies, Emory HealthCare wants to help workers with their daily lives, he added.

"We've had active alternative transportation plans for years, but not all employees have been aware of them," he said. "As gas prices have gotten higher, finding a better way to get to work is even more important. No one wants to spend their paycheck on gas."

Emory HealthCare held a series of transportation fairs at its various facilities in July and early August.

"Our employees can't really leave their work locations, so [we held] them at lunch or early in the morning on site to make them as convenient as possible," Hodges said.

Employees learned about van pools and how to search a database to find employees who live near them. Seven or more employees can lease a van through the Georgia Regional Transit Authority. Emory Healthcare will pay each employee $51 a month toward expenses and gas, as well as paying parking fees. Riders can also car pool and receive special parking privileges.

Another option is parking at off-campus sites and riding shuttle buses to work. "We have a robust shuttle bus system," Hodges said.

For employees willing to give up their parking spaces, Emory HealthCare will pay for public transportation.

"Crawford Long has a MARTA station nearby, so that benefit is heavily used by employees there, but others will ride the bus to our other hospitals," Hodges said.

To help employees save money in other ways, Emory HealthCare recently rolled out Sparkfly, a discount program accessible through the company intranet system. Employees can get discounts on tickets to events and tourist attractions, clothes, travel and other things.

"Sparkfly gave us a better way of organizing employee discounts and all the comments have been positive," Hodges said. "One person stopped to tell me that she had saved $200 on a recent trip."

Emory HealthCare also offers tuition reimbursement, faculty/staff assistance for counseling, wellness and fitness programs, auto and home insurance discounts, adoption referrals and discounts to health clubs and gyms.

"We want to demonstrate to our people how much we value them," Hodges said.

When workers have less stress, they are happier and "are free to give their patients their full attention," he added.