Daycares are closed because of COVID-19, but UK is making plans for kids of healthcare staff
Beginning Monday, University of Kentucky HealthCare employees and first responders are expected to have another option to help with child care while they are working during the state’s coronavirus outbreak.
The Executive Committee of the UK Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to authorize the university’s executive vice president for health afffairs to enter into an agreement with a private daycare, All About Kids Child Care.
The executive committee, acting on behalf of the full board, had to approve the arrangement because a UK employee, Joshua Tarter, has an ownership interest in the daycare. The committee is authorized to act on behalf of the full board between regular meetings in an emergency situation.
As the state battles the spread of COVID-19, child care centers throughout the state were ordered by the governor to shut down as of Friday afternoon.
UK has asked the Cabinet for Health and Family Services for an exemption allowing essential staff to use All About Kids for a limited time, and UK General Counsel William Thro told the committee that the request is expected to be approved.
UK spokesman Jay Blanton said the university is talking to a handful of other child care providers that could care for infants and preschoolers if demand dictates. He said the university “will communicate to our employees about that” after the state approves and details are finalized.
Blanton said employees will pay for the childcare they receive, though UK is “subsidizing to some extent as well.” Exact amounts employees will pay are still being determined, he said.
School-age children of UK medical center employees, as well as employees at CHI Saint Joseph Health and Baptist Health, are being cared for through the YMCA of Central Kentucky.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 7:10 PM.
