Hospital board mulls child care for employees

For the second time in less than 10 years, the Weston County Health Services board of trustees discussed the possibility of providing child care for employees in the hopes of increasing recruitment and retention. 
 
The idea was brought to the board casually on April 20 by Melissa Thomas, the director of nursing at the Manor, and Megan Sams, a human resources generalist. 
 
“We have been doing some research about child care for employees. That is one draw for Campbell County (Health),” Thomas said.
 
She explained that the facility has seen some employees drop from full time to part time or PRN, or “as the situation demands.” Or they leave because there is either no child care available or it is too expensive. Thomas noted that two to four individuals changed their statuses due to child care issues and that roughly 10 employees in the facility could benefit from provided child care. 
 
Trustee Connie James said that the board had explored child care back in 2016-17 and that the biggest problem they ran into then was the lack of staff. 
 
“We looked at partnering with the (Weston County) Children’s Center and working with them,” she said, although the partnership never came to fruition. 
 
Sams told the board that she had begun looking into some of the requirements but wanted to have some feedback from the board on their interest in the proposal before she continued. 
 
“When I was working for Campbell County, I benefited greatly from the child care they provided. It was pretty easy. It was at a discounted rate and came right out of my paycheck,” she said. “It was nice to have. I never had attendance issues due to child care.” 
 
The board raised several questions including the location of the child care accommodation and liability concerns. 
 
Trustee Kari Drost suggested that Sams and Thomas look into the potential for the children to eat lunch or do crafts with the residents at the Manor. She noted she had heard it was good for both age groups. 
 
Thomas said that while the children could potentially eat lunch or read books with the residents,  the facility would have to first do the research to make sure everyone was safe. 
 
“Personally, I think it is worth exploring. We looked at many options,” James said. 
 
Sams suggested that if the facility couldn’t provide child care that the board might consider providing stipends to employees to help cover the cost of day care. 
 
“That way it is not so expensive, if they can get in. … We would help to cover that so they are here working for us,” she said. 
 
The consensus was that the idea would be explored further and information would be presented to the board at a future meeting.