ELK CITY, Okla. (OBV) – Great Plains Regional Medical Center’s on-site daycare facility, Kids Korner, is a huge help to parents who work at the hospital amid the ongoing childcare crisis in Oklahoma.
“One of the things that we provide for all of our employees is a safe environment for their children,” said Corey Lively, CEO of Great Plains Regional Medical Center.
Great Plains Regional is the largest hospital in Western Oklahoma. It has around 450 full-time and part-time employees. Mothers, fathers and guardians who work at the hospital do not have to worry about finding an available or affordable childcare facility thanks to onsite daycare at the hospital.
Demi Hall, director of Professional Services at Great Plans Regional, is the mother of a two year old and four year old, both of whom attend Great Plains’ daycare.
“It’s been a blessing to be able to have my girls at the hospital’s daycare because it’s so close by. Anytime that they may be having a rough day or something, it’s easy to just come over and check in on them,” Hall said. “When my two year old was a baby and I was nursing her, I was able to come over on my breaks and get to spend some time with her and help her transition into [the] daycare.”
The onsite daycare enabled Hall to continue her career.
“It’s been a great perk of working here – cost effective. I wouldn’t have come back to work if I didn’t have access to this daycare,” Hall said.
The daycare helps ensure Great Plains is constantly operating with a full and vibrant hospital staff.
“It is a significant way to not only attract new employees but definitely to retain employees when they’re able to get up in the morning, get everybody ready at the house, put the kiddos in the car and bring them to the same place of employment,” Lively said. “Our daycare is right here on our hospital campus, and so it’s really convenient for the employee to drop them off in that safe environment and just come right across the street to work. It’s a real benefit to all of our employees. It’s a real nice situation.”
It’s a situation that great plains heavily subsidizes. They built and continue to improve their facility with money out of their own pocket. With hundreds of employees, it’s a move that makes sense.
Lively said if tax incentive existed for businesses that helped pick up the cost of their employees’ childcare, other small companies might start their own childcare facility, and Great Plains could grow theirs.
“Tax credits or things of this nature that further help us operate that daycare, that’s always an attractive position for us if that was available,” he said.
Ultimately, Great Plains officials know the decision to provide daycare for their employees is a game changer for a business.
“I think if you’re contemplating starting your own daycare, you can never realize the positive benefits that come from that,” Lively said. “Not just from a financial perspective, but the level of loyalty and commitment from your employees in knowing that you’re a partner. Your employees, your patients, your friends, everyone in the community will appreciate you for offering that service to them.”
Oklahoma has been experiencing a child care crisis for several years now. Child care facilities are either too few in many areas of the state, too expensive or often both.
The following three bills to address the childcare crisis are currently under consideration in the Oklahoma Legislature:
- House Bill 1848: Establishes several income tax credits to support employer-sponsored childcare subsidies, employer-sponsored childcare facilities and childcare workers.
- Senate Bill 104: Creates an income tax credit for employers providing childcare services. The amount of credit shall be equal to 30 percent of the amount expended for childcare services, 30 percent of the amount needed to operate a childcare facility and 30 percent of the amount expended to contract with a childcare facility.
- Senate Bill 256: creates an income tax credit for employers providing childcare services. The amount of credit shall be equal to 30 percent of the amount expended for childcare services, 30 percent of the amount needed to operate a childcare facility and 30 percent of the amount expended to contract with a childcare facility.
An Oklahoma State University report, Understanding Access and Barriers to Childcare in Oklahoma, cited Center for American Progress data, which shows that 55 percent of Oklahoma’s population live in childcare deserts and that such deserts are in both rural and urban areas.
OSU’s report referenced DHS Childcare data that showed Oklahoma having 3,102 licensed child care facilities across the state’s 77 counties in October 2023.
“This number ranged from zero licensed facilities in Cimarron County to 839 facilities in Oklahoma County,” the report states.
Oklahoma Health and Human Services classified 35 counties – nearly half of the counties in Oklahoma – as a childcare desert.
“The implication is that over 66% of children in these communities may be without childcare options,” the OSU report states.
If a parent has a child care facility in their area, they might have trouble finding a spot for their child. The report found that Oklahoma, on average, has 3.5 children for each licensed childcare slot.
“The median is 2.45, which means that half of all counties in Oklahoma have more than two children per available licensed childcare slot,” the report states.
However, a parent might not be able to afford child care even if they are able to find a facility with an available spot.
Child care had an average annual cost of $11,582 per child in 2023. The report described the annual cost as taking 10 percent of a married couple’s median household income and 32 percent of a single parent’s median household income.
Programs such as the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act and initiatives like the Child Tax Credit expansion were enacted to help make child care more affordable for working families, but many families throughout the nation and across Oklahoma still struggle.
“Despite these efforts, challenges persist, and access to affordable, high-quality childcare remains a significant concern for many American families, including Oklahomans,” the report states.
Oklahoma businesses have been adversely impacted by the childcare facility and worker shortage, seeing a 6.1 percent decline in workforce labor participation among Oklahoma mothers who have children ranging in age from infant to four years old.
“Often times, the parent has to either leave the workforce or make a new work arrangement. It’s even harder if a family has nontraditional hours of care that they need; it’s very difficult to find childcare that operates outside traditional hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” Carrie Williams, executive director of Oklahoma Child Care Resource and Referral, previously said to Oklahoma Business Voice.
Parents nationwide are exiting the workforce due to diminishing child care options.
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation study states that 58 percent of working parents reported leaving their job because they could not find viable child care. Also, 32 percent of women surveyed said having to be home to care for family members made returning to work difficult.
