Kmc Caters To Workers With Ill Kids Unique Day-Care Program Also Partners Youngsters And Elderly

It’s hard to be both a parent and an employee - especially when the kids aren’t feeling so well.

Junior needs Mom or Dad to stay home but the bills still need to be paid.

Kootenai Medical Center hopes to help working families in just such a predicament.

The hospital is offering two new programs that put them on the cutting edge of day care in Idaho.

KMC’s Tender Care offers day care to mildly ill children who don’t feel well enough to attend school or their usual day care. The children will be cared for by trained health professionals in the hospital’s pediatric unit.

Both children and elderly people will be cared for in KMC’s new inter-generational day care. The program is designed to allow the kids and adults to mingle and will be housed in the hospital’s new Community Resource Center.

“It’s a support service for working families,” said Pam Thompson, director of KMC’s social services and the woman spearheading the adult/child day care. “I see a lot of families who are just getting by.”

The programs are believed to be one-of-a-kind in Idaho, organizers say.

Now in its second week of operation, Tender Care is open only to the children of KMC staff. However, Rachel Zamora, director of perinatal pediatric services, hopes to open it to the public this spring.

Barbara Patton, an employee in the hospital’s personnel department, already has registered her children for both. She has a 5-year-old son and an 18-month-old daughter.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Patton said of the inter-generational day care. “I think the way families are so broken up and spread out nowadays a lot of kids don’t have grandparents around.”

Thompson hopes to open the child day care to KMC employees by Feb. 26. About 60 children already have been enrolled, she said. The public may begin submitting applications possibly by the third week of March.

The hospital is accepting applications from the public for the adult day care. It has room for about 10 adults each day and plans to start caring for elderly and disabled adults in mid-March.

Children and adults will be cared for in separate rooms, but will have an adjoining room for group activities.

“A lot of children grow up without those old values grandparents hand down,” Thompson said.

“We want to pass on some of those things … things that grandparents tell little children.”

Thompson believes the inter-generational day care will benefit the adults as much as it does the children.

“The first time you see an Alzheimer’s patient hold a baby - they just wake up,” she said.

The adult day care is not designed for long-term care of elderly people. Instead, it is set up to give short-term respite to a person who is caring for an elderly parent.

It is the kind of aid that Thompson hopes will help families keep elderly members in the home longer.

It is estimated that nationwide, employers lose between $2 billion and $12 billion a year because of working mothers needing to stay home with their sick children, according to the Journal of Pediatric Health Care.

Zamora hopes Tender Care will help families both care for their sick children and still provide for them.

“You never hope you have to use the sick kid day care,” Patton said. But “It’s a reality that when you’re a parent your kids will get sick.”

The kids will have access to a room stuffed with toys of all shapes and sizes, not to mention video games and movies. But it won’t all be fun and games. Children can bring homework with them if they’re feeling well enough.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: DAY CARES Tender Care Where: In KMC’s pediatric unit For: Children ages 4 weeks to 12 years. Must have proof of current immunizations and the child must be preregistered. Accepts: Flu, congestion, bronchitis, intestinal disorders, colds, minor injuries, ear infections, fevers of less than 103 degrees and the chicken pox one week after rash outbreak. Does not accept: Whooping cough, measles, ringworm, mumps, hepatitis, scabies, impetigo, and chicken pox in the first week of rash outbreak. Cost: Minimum of $12 up to $25 a day. Who: Children of KMC employees right now and children from the public in the spring. Hours: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Room for: About seven children a day. Child/Adult Day Care Where: In KMC’s new Community Resource Center For: Infants to 12 years, elderly and some disabled adults Cost: About $14 a day for children, between $35 and $45 a day for adults. Who: Children of KMC employees right now, but plans to start accepting applications for children from the public in the third week of March. Is accepting applications for all adults. Hours: 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Room for: About 70 children a day and 10 adults a day.