A Children’s Place will remain open three months longer than originally planned, giving the families of the 130 children using the facility more time to work out new child care arrangements.

Ephraim McDowell Health, the parent company of Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center and owner of the day care located near the Boyle County Industrial Park, “will continue to operate A Children’s Place through Aug. 31,” according to an opinion column that appears in this issue of The Advocate-Messenger.

The column was written by Ephraim McDowell Health President and CEO Sally Davenport and Ben Nelson, chair of the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership. It lays out how the hospital and EDP say they are working to help the families who will lose their current child care services when A Children’s Place closes.

The EDP and hospital have a “shared list” of employers for the 105 families that are using A Children’s Place, and they plan to “reach out to those employers who might have families in need,” the column states.

“We are sharing and updating the Ephraim McDowell Health list of the 16 childcare providers and available openings in the local area. We are providing a suggested communication asking that these families’ employers help identify and support those who might need assistance in their organization,” the column reads. “We are offering to meet with those HR professionals who have employees needing to find alternative child care to better understand how we can help.”

The column also notes the EDP is “escalating the community’s efforts to support the recruitment and expansion of additional child care providers.”

Last week, EDP President and CEO Jody Lassiter said he had been talking with one local day care that was already interested in expanding, and had reached out to another former Danville resident who manages multiple day cares to gauge interest in opening a new facility.

According to today’s column, Lassiter has now communicated with “three new prospective providers about a possible location in Danville.”

Ephraim McDowell Health announced in early March it planned to close A Children’s Place at the end of May. Vice President Keith Bridges said at the time closing the facility had been discussed for at least 10 years.

“We’re just like other folks and are looking closely at our larger mission” of providing health care, Bridges said at the time. “… A Children’s Place didn’t fit with our business model.”

OPINION

Read the full opinion column from Sally Davenport and Ben Nelson on the online editorial page.