UnityPoint Health Receives $2 Million Grant for Child Care Facility
WATERLOO – UnityPoint Health – Allen Hospital will receive a $2,005,326 grant for the development of a childcare center near the Allen Hospital campus.
With the funding, Allen Hospital plans to partner with Cedar Valley Kids to construct a 8,413 sq. ft. facility on 2.76 acres of donated land in the North Crossing development. It is anticipated to create 100 additional childcare slots, with 60 of those designated for UnityPoint Health team members.
Additional partners on this project include developer Ben Stroh who is donating the parcel of land and the City of Waterloo, which has committed to constructing road access to the property.
Convenient access to childcare services has been signaled as a critical need by local healthcare workers, and UnityPoint Health is proud to help fulfill that request. Additional goals of the project are to enhance work/life balance for dedicated team members, decrease turnover rate caused by limited access to childcare services and strengthen recruiting efforts to address a shortage of healthcare workers.
The grant was announced Tuesday by Governor Kim Reynolds as part of the Child Care Business Inventive Grant, which will contribute a total of $26.6 million for 23 projects across Iowa. The funding from Iowa Workforce Development and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services involves 67 employers and is expected to create nearly 1,786 childcare slots.