Journal staff
SIOUX CITY – UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s received a $993,750 grant from Governor Kim Reynolds’ Future Ready Iowa Initiative to help develop on-site child care services for UnityPoint employees.
UnityPoint plans to turn the current office space into a daycare center for employees with children ages 0-5. The center will provide 56 childcare slots during hours that support hospital staff.
Local leaders have noted that many health care workers are working 12-hour shifts that are not covered by traditional daycares. Not only will the daycare create availability in the community, but it will also serve as a means of attracting and retaining nurses and other clinical staff in a rural area where there is a chronic shortage of nurses. they stated.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer this benefit to our team members here at UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s,” chief operating officer Corey Snider said in a statement. “We wouldn’t be able to do this without this help from the governor, and we are very grateful for his partnership.
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“We hope this daycare will help alleviate some of the stress our team members have had to endure, especially over the past two years. As they show up every day to care for the Siouxland community, they deserve to have peace of mind knowing that their children are safe and cared for.
Work on this project is expected to begin in the first quarter of this year, with the opening scheduled for the second quarter.
State officials recently announced $36.6 million in grants for child care projects, with the goal of opening 5,200 new time slots for children.
“They are more than just buildings. They are physical reminders of the thousands of lives that will be enriched,
Reynolds said in his condition of the state speech. “And it’s not just the kids, it’s also the lives of parents empowered to go to work knowing their child is being taken care of.”
Bright Start Daycare & Preschool in Hull, a center in northwest Iowa that Reynolds highlighted in his speech, will receive an $885,000 grant to add 46 spaces. According to the announcement, the center now has a waiting list of 67 children.
An estimated 23% of Iowans live in areas without adequate child care services. In rural parts of the state, that number is around 35%.
Hull daycare receives shoutout from Governor Reynolds, who received $885,000 from the state
