Article Link: http://www.exchangepress.com/article/hospitals-as-child-care-providers/5012966/
For years, hospitals have been out in front of the employer child care movement. To find out about the status of hospital-based child care, Exchange interviewed Diane Schulz, the president of Child Care in Health Care.Exchange: How many hospitals in the United States and Canada have on-site or near-site centers for their employees?
Schulz: Today, about 900 hospitals offer this service. This is down from 1300 in the 1980s. Overall, about four out of every ten hospitals in the United States and Canada operate centers. This last number is a bit of a moving target as the continual mergers, acquisitions, and name changes in the health care industry make it difficult to be sure what the real numbers are.
Exchange: What is the overall trend - are hospitals adding centers at an increasing, decreasing, or steady rate?
Schulz: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the number of hospital-based centers decreased. This was in part a knee-jerk response to quick cost cuts and the closing of many health care facilities. Today, hospitals are back on a steady track of increase. The low unemployment rates and nursing shortages in many parts of the country are driving this change.
Exchange: How are ...