“The basic intent is to accommodate front-line workers in our facilities who have young children.”
Director of hospital activities at the Campbellton Regional Hospital (HRC), Maxime Saulnier strongly believes in the potential of the daycare pilot project in the making for this establishment.
The concept itself is not new, it already exists elsewhere in the country. We are talking about the creation of a daycare center in the workplace. That said, this would be a first within the Vitalité Health Network.
Located within the confines of the HRC, or even in a possible annex, it would be intended solely for health workers.
The number of places is still undetermined. A survey to this effect will soon be sent to employees in order to analyze needs. On the employee side,
Vitalité does not plan, at least for now, to engage in the hiring of early childhood educators. We would prefer to rely on the expertise already in place in the community.
“The formula that we want to put in place would be new for the province. We’ve been talking about it for a while now, but now we have to set it up and operate it in order to see the tangible results, ”says the director.
This project aims in particular to meet a need among personnel in the health sector who often have to deal with “irregular” shifts. Since the majority of daycare centers are open at more conventional hours, they do not always correspond to the reality of these workers, whose shifts are often 12 hours.
“This means that these workers find themselves without resources after a certain hour. And not everyone can count on a social or family network to help them, not to mention that we also have single-parent employees. As employers, we have to listen and be accommodating so that our employees can not only come to work, but that they do so with peace of mind,” explains Mr. Saulnier.
However, the daycare envisaged for the HRC would not be in operation 24 hours a day. We would rather think of a service available over a period of approximately 12 hours, including a certain number of hours in the evening which are adjusted to the typical relays of employees (shift changes).
“It directly affects the aspects of employee well-being and the values of work-family balance. We believe that this is a means that can help us retain our employees. Because we know that there are challenges at the moment in the community – but also practically everywhere – with regard to access to a childcare service,” he adds.
Recruitment
The Vitalité Health Network benefits from this formula, which could facilitate, or even accelerate, the return to work of staff with children.
According to Mr. Saulnier, however, the vision does not stop there. The project also includes recruitment targets. Having such a system, it is believed, could increase the chances of attracting new employees.
“Vitalité is currently doing a lot of promotion in order to recruit an international workforce. These new workers come with a family, children. If we want to convince them to settle in our more rural regions (like Restigouche), we must be able to welcome them and meet their needs,” he emphasizes.
Timeline
If he is determined to go ahead with this project in his establishment, the director of the HRC is however careful to add that it is still only at the evaluation stage.
“We are at square one. It’s still too early to talk about a date for a possible opening, because it’s a process that takes a long time to work out. That said, it is a priority for the network. We are very serious with this initiative,” he said.
He would not be surprised to see this daycare project being imitated and extended to other hospitals.
“If it’s a winning recipe, why not copy it?” he says.
