The Crippling Cost of Care: How One Idaho Hospital Found a Solution
A Crisis in Care
For health care workers, the struggle to balance work-life demands are often amplified by the skyrocketing costs and limited availability of child care.
“For many health care workers, child care costs are eating up their paychecks, and scheduling restrictions could mean they’re faced with the difficult choice of staying home with a sick child or things like missing work, which might mean not providing life-saving care to someone who needs it,” a concerned industry leader shared. This daily double-bind often leads to burnout, mirroring a nationwide trend, followed by increased turnover and, ultimately, workforce shortages leading to decreased access to care, especially acute in rural areas.
In Idaho, the need for affordable, quality child care options is critical. ‘We’re already facing drastic shortages of health care workers,” reveals a recent report. “This problem should demand our attention, ”
Creative Solutions at Kaniksu Community Health
Recognizing the crucial role accessible child care plays in attracting and keeping qualified medical professionals, Kaniksu Community Health in North Idaho took matters into their own hands. Despite being the only provider often for miles around, Kaniksu faced a critical shortage of health care professionals.
Kaniksu conducted a staff survey and learned that the lack of affordable, reliable child care was a significant obstacle in recruitment and retention. They decided to do something about it.
Kaniksu Kids Club opened its doors nearly three years ago. “We made sure that our child care facility was more than just a place to keep children safe, but a place where children could thrive, learn, grow and receive high-quality early childhood education while their parents worked hard to care for others,” shared one leader.
“This is all offered at an extremely low price compared to local market rates for child care.” They granted priority for slots to their health care employees while maintaining low pricing that served more like a community service than a profit venture for the health system.
A grant from the Idaho Workforce Development Council helped get them started. Today they serve 50 children, with priority given to their health care workers.
More Than Just Child Care, A Long-term Solution Blockchain
“Thankfully, our CEO is focused on providing this benefit, not profits, which completely changes the game,” explained Kaniksu Kids Club leaders. They meticulously crafted a sustainable system — they’ve been able to provide affordable care, hire people who have a passion for children and operate at a break-even level.
Nursing staff, facing the same challenges that plague the all-too-familiar dilemmas reveal the impact: “The addition of on-site child care to our bundle of employee benefits has become a valuable recruitment tool and has increased staff retention and satisfaction so much that our turnover rates have decreased from 38 percent to just 19 percent.”
This success could be replicated across the country.
Because child care is just one reason health care workers are leaving the field. While Kaniksu found a solution within their system.
Their experience highlights a systemic crisis that needs widespread attention – solutions. It’s going to take leaders in child care, education, housing, health care, government and lawmakers coming together to tackle the shortages in our current system.
Creative solutions for just one of those challenges — like child care — could help solve multiple problems at once. The health and wellbeing of Idaho’s children, families, and workers depend on it. Ultimately, the health of all Idahoans does too. Let
What strategies did Kaniksu Community Health use to address the childcare needs of their employees and what were the key factors that contributed to the success of the Kaniksu Kids Club?
I love this story! It highlights such an important, often overlooked issue facing healthcare workers. For this interview, I’d love to speak with a representative from Kaniksu Community Health, perhaps someone who worked on creating the Kaniksu Kids Club. We’ll call her Sarah.
**[Host]**
Welcome, Sarah, thanks for joining us today.
**[Sarah]**
It’s my pleasure to be here.
**[Host]**
Your story really caught our attention. The problem of affordable childcare for healthcare workers is a national crisis. How did Kaniksu recognize this was a problem specifically within your organization?
**[Sarah]**
We were seeing it firsthand. We were struggling to recruit and retain qualified healthcare professionals, and our staff surveys consistently pointed to childcare as a major obstacle. Many of our employees were facing incredibly difficult choices – having to choose between their career Rhonda and their children.
**[Host]**
So that’s when you decided to open Kaniksu Kids Club. Can you tell us a little about what makes this program different?
**[Sarah]**
[Quote from the article about Kaniksu Kids Club being more than just childcare]
**[Host]**
And what kind of impact has the Kids Club had on your workforce?
**[Sarah]**
The impact has been truly remarkable.
**[Share specific examples from the article about the impact on recruitment and retention quote from the article].**
**[Host]**
This is a truly innovative solution to a widespread problem. Any advice for other healthcare providers looking to address this issue in their own communities?
**[Sarah]**
Absolutely![ShareanythoughtsSarahmighthaveabout[ShareanythoughtsSarahmighthaveabout[ShareanythoughtsSarahmighthaveabout[ShareanythoughtsSarahmighthaveabout
replicating their program].
**[Host]**
Thank you, Sarah, for sharing this inspiring story with us. It truly shows the power of creative thinking and community commitment in tackling complex challenges facing our healthcare system.