Family Centered Programs
Our families do so much to center and sustain us. We believe it’s our responsibility to extend the support we offer our team members to their amazing families as well. Here are some of the ways in which we’re caring for family members, from babies to seniors, at every stage of life.
In this section:
Comprehensive Family Care Center
Child Care Center
Adult Day Services Program
On-site Lactation Rooms
Doula Services
Caregiving Services
Backup/Sick Child and Adult Care
Comprehensive Family Care Center
Our comprehensive, on-site Family Care Center — the first of its kind in our region — provides child and adult day care in an updated and friendly environment. Intergenerational activities such as baking, storytelling, music and art provide the perfect opportunity for children and adults to interact with one another. In 2015, Generations United recognized our Family Care Center as a Program of Distinction. This recognition means so much because it affirms that we’re doing right by our team members and their dependents.
Child Care Center
For more than three decades, our on-site Child Care Center has been consistently rated as one of our most popular team member benefits. The program is among only a handful in the United States accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children® (NAEYC®). We’re proud to say that ours was one of the first programs in the country to earn this designation.
Adult Day Services Program
Team members caring for an aging adult can take advantage of this program, regardless of their relationship to the senior adult. The program helps seniors establish social relationships in an inviting and comfortable environment. One day, you might find them discussing the news. On another, they might be enjoying their view of the children’s playground. On yet another, they may be tending tomato plants in the garden, enjoying day trips around town or petting a visiting therapy dog.
Backup/Sick Child and Adult Care
In our eighth year of providing this service, backup care is one of our most valued benefits. In 2015, 102 new registrations were tallied (a 13 percent increase over the previous year). In 2015, team members needed backup care 873 times, which means that 873 times we didn’t have to cancel or reschedule appointments, cancel surgeries or ask other team members to cover their colleagues’ shifts.
Team members can choose to have backup services provided at our own on-site Family Care Center, space permitting. And if team members are out of town on business and their children need overnight care, backup care can be accessed, either at home or in the destination city. Similarly, team members who have frail adult family members can rely upon the national network to check in on their loved ones.
On-site Lactation Rooms
When new moms come back to work, we want to make it as easy for them as possible to return to work without having to discontinue breastfeeding. That’s why we provide them with functional spaces for expressing milk within proximity to their workspace. These clean, private spaces are located near a sink with running water for washing hands and rinsing out breast pump parts. All spaces provide an electrical outlet, chair, and flat surface suitable for holding a breast pump.
Doula Services
Because we know that reduced stress eases the transition of bringing a new baby into the household, we offer doula services – by registered nurses who have received doula certification -- for our team members who deliver their babies here. Doulas are available for telephone consults as well as initial in-home visits.
I never, ever imagined my mom getting to the point where she was demonstrating frailty. But I get strength from knowing there's someone I can talk to.
When Elyse Harris, medical coder, moved to Richmond from New York City, she was seeking a place to enhance the positive energy surrounding her, even though moving away from her family was difficult. When she found that she needed help managing her mother's care long distance, she was thankful that eldercare resources at VCU Health were available to her.