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Mercy Medical Center Selects Bright Horizons to Operate Child Care Center for Employees' Children

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 August 2009, 08:52 CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Bright Horizons Family Solutions, LLC today announced that it has been chosen by Mercy Medical Center - Des Moines to manage its on-site child care center, the Mercy Child Development Center, effective immediately. For more than 30 years, the Mercy Child Development Center has cared for children of Mercy employees in a safe and loving environment located directly across the street from the hospital's main campus.

"The Mercy Child Development Center is an integral part of our culture and employee benefits at Mercy Medical Center," said Robin Wilkinson, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Mercy Medical Center. "We are pleased to partner with Bright Horizons((R)) to manage the program, which we had previously self-operated, enabling our team to fully concentrate on providing exceptional medical care. We chose Bright Horizons because of their reputation for excellence in child care and early education. With Bright Horizons on board, center faculty now have access to a broad range of expert knowledge and resources to ensure the best experiences for children and families."

Since 1979, Mercy Child Development Center has been an essential part of the medical center's ability to recruit and retain top healthcare and administrative professionals. Mercy employees who use the child care center benefit from having a solution to help balance their professional and personal lives. Staff are better able to concentrate on their healthcare work knowing their children are cared for by experienced and nurturing teachers in a high-quality and convenient program.

Several results from a recent study by the Bright Horizons Consulting Practice underscore the need for child care in healthcare environment. The study found an 89 percent reduction in voluntary turnover among child care center users in a healthcare setting. Findings also show 97 percent retention of top performers using hospital-based child care centers. (For more information about the benefits of child care in a healthcare environment, visit www.brighthorizons.com/healthcare.)

To accommodate the schedules of healthcare professionals, the Mercy Child Development Center is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Mercy employees who have children between the ages of six weeks and eight years can use the center for full-service care as well as back-up care when their primary child care provider is unavailable.

"We are pleased to have been selected by Mercy Medical Center - Des Moines to manage its high-quality child care and early education program that has made such a positive difference in the lives of children and families over the last thirty years," said Bright Horizons CEO David Lissy. "We are very proud to join a workplace environment that is committed to excellence in caring for people and takes very seriously the role that high-quality child care has in the lives of parents and healthcare professionals."

Bright Horizons will operate Mercy Child Development Center as it does each of its programs, according to the highest standards of excellence as defined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

About Mercy Medical Center - Des Moines

Mercy Medical Center - Des Moines is a 917-bed acute care, not-for-profit Catholic hospital situated on three campuses. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1893, Mercy is Des Moines' longest continually operating hospital and one of the largest employers in the state, with more than 6,900 employees and a medical staff of 900 physicians and allied health professionals. Mercy is also one of the Midwest's biggest referral centers, offering a variety of specialty services that are unique to Iowa and the region.

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions((R))

Bright Horizons Family Solutions((R)) (www.brighthorizons.com) is the world's leading provider of employer-sponsored child care, back-up care, early education, and work/life solutions. The company operates more than 600 child care and early education centers across the U.S., in Europe, and Canada. Bright Horizons was recently named one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For in America."

SOURCE Bright Horizons Family Solutions, LLC

Source: PR Newswire

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