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Metro Health hospital staff receiving childcare relief through YMCA partnership

Metro Health and University of Michigan Health System
Metro Health; University of Michigan
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metrohealth.net | umich.edu

Who takes care of medical staff children in the middle of a national crisis? 

Metro Health – University of Michigan Health employs nearly 3,100 employees on its Wyoming campus. A number of them are working parents. With schools closed, a solution; the Spartan Nash YMCA is a campus neighbor leasing its space and staff who otherwise would be out of work.

“We are working hard to maintain the social distancing guidelines, so the classrooms in the Y’s facility are segregated so there are no more than 20 children in any given room.” 

Jennifer Gonzalez is Chief Human Resource Officer for Metro Health.

“We are working hard to keep those apart and staff are continuously sanitizing all of the surfaces and the things that are being used within the facility with respect to that.”

The Spartan Nash YMCA can accommodate 86 children per day. Mercy Health says it has an overflow plan if there’s a need to expand.

There’s also a $1 million needs-based fund for employees struggling with COVID-19-related hardships.

I’m Patrick Center.

Patrick joined WGVU Public Media in December, 2008 after eight years of investigative reporting at Grand Rapids' WOOD-TV8 and three years at WYTV News Channel 33 in Youngstown, Ohio. As News and Public Affairs Director, Patrick manages our daily radio news operation and public interest television programming. An award-winning reporter, Patrick has won multiple Michigan Associated Press Best Reporter/Anchor awards and is a three-time Academy of Television Arts & Sciences EMMY Award winner with 14 nominations.
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