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 Doctors Community
Hospital Solves the Snow Day Dilemma
With the beginning of the school year comes a challenge for
both hospitals and those employees who have children in elementary school:
parents’ difficulty in finding alternative child care when schools
unexpectedly close for weather emergencies often translates into difficulty in
staffing hospitals.
Doctors Community Hospital in Prince George’s County
has, however, found the answer — or rather, created an answer. Charlene
Lundgren, vice president for human resources, explains: “About eight years
ago, we decided to develop our own on-site child care center for staff who
didn’t have other arrangements when schools closed for emergencies.”
Lundgren, who as a parent once struggled with just this issue, championed the
idea.
It’s a practical idea, since much of what is needed to
equip a child care center is already on hand at hospitals. “As soon as a
school closing announcement is broadcast, our departments go into action,”
says Lundgren. “Housekeeping staff vacuums the space, and material
services personnel bring in chairs, tables, blankets, and pallets. Food service
workers begin to prepare extra breakfasts, lunches, and two snacks.”
In the center’s first few years, hospital HR staff,
along with supervisors and managers from non-patient care areas, were converted
into child care staff as their schedules allowed. Over time, however, as the
center attracted more participants (any employee scheduled to work who has a
child 5-12 years of age may use it at no cost), Lundgren and Lark Dobson,
director of employee relations, decided that hiring non-hospital staff for the
center would work better: hospital departments wouldn’t be drained of
personnel, and the children would have a more consistent set of care
givers.
A convenient solution was provided by the Prince
George’s County school system, which identified two teacher’s aids
who agreed to work at the center when school was closed because of inclement
weather. Lundgren says that the teacher’s aids have brought a little more
formality to the program: “They bring workbooks, and they lead songs the
children already know from school.” In addition, Lundgren has what she
calls the “luxury” of center coordinator Lark Dobson’s
background in elementary education to draw from; Dobson spends her day in the
center when it is operating.
The child care center is a hit with both parents and
children, says Lundgren. “The children love the program; they look forward
to school being closed and coming here.” And she adds, “Parents
don’t have to make that difficult call to work, saying they won’t be
in because their children are too young to be left alone and no alternative
child care is available.”
Discipline at the center is typically not a problem: When
children arrive with their parents, they are given an ER band with their name
and their parent’s name — and their parent’s extension number.
The only missteps, says Lundren, have involved the kind of
food to serve. “At first our Food Service department prepared generous
deli trays with a lot of variety,” she explains. “But the children
just looked at the choices and said ‘Yuk.’ Now we stick to tried-and-
true peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hamburgers, and hot dogs.”
Another course correction involved breakfast: “While the pastries we
served in the beginning were lovely, we soon learned that they resulted in
boisterous children as a sugar high kicked in,” says Lundgren. “Now
we serve cornflakes and bananas, and things stay calmer.”
As the child care center has become more professional, the
hospital has begun mentioning it in its employee recruitment materials.
Although Lundgren says she’s not sure that it has made a big contribution
to recruitment, she believes that it does contribute to staff retention.
“Admittedly, I have only anecdotal evidence, but the number of parents who
tell me how grateful they are for the peace of mind the child care center
provides is pretty impressive,” Lundgren says. “It may help with the
burnout and stress that figures prominently in surveys of why nurses leave
hospital nursing.”
Contact:
Charlene Lundgren
Vice President for Human
Resources
Doctors Community Hospital
Phone: (301) 552-8088
E-mail:
clundgren@dchweb.org
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