Posted on: November 16, 2022
This past July, the Health Human Resources (HHR) Sustainability Initiative surveyed Island Health about current and future child care needs. We heard from over 2,000 of you, which
helps us understand needs and inform our next steps with potential external partners. If you missed the original article, it's still available.
SURVEY RESULTS
The survey was geared towards those interested in onsite and/or after-hours child care. Island Health employees, medical staff, volunteers and contractors who currently have tiny humans in child care, or who will need child care over the next few years, were asked to complete the survey.
Of the 2,049 responses received, approximately 66% of respondents reported not having the child care they need now. Most demonstrated a need for weekday child care, and over half of respondents require the addition of weekends and/or evenings. Every working parent in need of child care wants safe, affordable and accessible care. Child care needs are predicted to grow substantially over the next three years; from 344 people in need of care this year, to 1,115 by 2025 - an increase of approximately 224%.
For those working shifts or on-call, finding appropriate child care is more intricate, with less than 2% of licensed child care facilities in Canada offering child care outside of standard weekday hours. Based on survey results, and a clear lack of options that meet the needs of the Island Health workforce, the Workforce Strategy team has completed research on flexible child care options alongside best practices, examined other Health Authority prototypes and initiated discussions with the Island Health Child Care Licensing Branch.
BC UPDATES
In parallel to our internal work, the Province of BC has also established a Child Care Plan and recently announced Child Care Fee Reductions effective December 2022. More specifically, the Ministry of Health recently identified flexible and adaptable child care as one of the Health Human Resource Strategies (HHRS) they will support in the next five years. The Provincial Health Human Resources Coordination Centre (PHHRCC) oversees the implementation of provincial HHR strategies and will collaborate with the Ministry of Education and Child Care to develop a new provincial health childcare strategy, evaluate the 2021 Northern Health Childcare Pilot Program, and continue building on work already underway through the ChildCareBC Plan. Island Health is a member of the PHHRCC and will work toward prioritizing this strategy.
Look for future updates on both our internal and provincial work in the coming months in The Weekly.