Child Care Center to Expand

CHILD CARE CENTER TO INTEGRATE MEDICALLY FRAGILE CHILDREN

     COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Child Care Center will
soon become the first in the nation to integrate medically
fragile children into a child care center for normal children.

     On Friday (2/4), the university's trustees authorized
construction of a 4,500-square-foot addition to the Child Care
Center at a cost of $500,000.  The new construction will allow 15
medically fragile children to be enrolled at the center and will
also enable the center to enroll 18 mentally retarded/
developmentally delayed (MRDD) children and increase the capacity
of typically developing children to 316 from the present 300.

     Because of Gov. George V. Voinovich's Family and Children
First Initiative, the Ohio Department of Health provided a
$250,000 grant to develop and implement programming for the
center.

     "Without this grant and the governor's personal interest and
support this very important program would not have been
possible," said E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State.  "This is
an excellent example of how the university and the state can work
together for the betterment of all Ohio citizens."

     The program, which will be phased in over the next 18
months, is a cost-effective solution to a growing national health
care problem, said Linda Tom, Ohio State's vice president for
human resources.

     "Based on our experience in analyzing the health care needs
of these children, it is anticipated that the university will
save $218,000 a year by providing this alternative form of care
rather than the one-on-one home health care covered by the
university's health insurance plan," she said.  "This approach
will reduce costs to the university while giving assistance to
our employees and students who struggle to meet the complex
demands of caring for children.  Parents are better able to focus
on their jobs or studies when they are satisfied with their child
care arrangements.  This is an even greater concern when the
child's health is fragile."

     Medically fragile children rely on prolonged use of medical
devices to compensate for the loss of vital bodily functions and
require substantial daily skilled nursing care to avert death or
further disability.  For example, they may be dependent on tube
feeding by pump for all their nutrition or they may be able to
breathe only with the assistance of a mechanical ventilator.

     Previously in Ohio, the only available care for the children
was through the medical system.  Initially, they are cared for in
hospitals, then discharged to their homes, where they may require
one-on-one nursing care up to 24 hours a day.  When insurance
coverage runs out, they are permanently placed in Medicaid-funded
nursing homes.

     Governor Voinovich's Family and Children First Initiative
funded two pilot projects.  One, at the Medical College of Ohio
at Toledo, provides services for medically fragile children in a
separate portion of a child care center.  The Ohio State project
is the first to integrate medically fragile children with
typically developing children.

     "It is appropriate that Ohio State University and the
Medical College of Ohio at Toledo be leaders in creating new
models for child care," said Judy Fountain, director of the
university's Work and Family Office.  "To date, all care for
medically fragile children has been based solely on a medical
model rather than a child development model.  The universities,
in collaboration with state and public agencies and private
business, can bring together resources to meet the children's
developmental and medical needs within a single site."

     A 1992 study by the Metropolitan Human Services Commission
estimated that there were approximately 118 medically fragile
children under the age of 18 in Franklin County.  Of that number
more than half were younger than 5, reflecting advances in
medicine and increases in birth defects related to drug abuse.

     The program will be phased in gradually, Fountain said.
One medically fragile child, a girl with a feeding tube, has
already been successfully integrated into the center as pilot.
She entered at age 4 and has now left the center and is a first
grader involved in the same activities as her classmates at a
local school.

     The center, located at 725 Ackerman Road between Kenny and
Olentangy River Roads, currently serves 300 typically developing
children whose parents are Ohio State students, faculty or staff
members.  A few MRDD children already attend the Child Care
Center, but must be transported to other facilities for their
developmental services.  When the new program is fully
integrated, they will be able to get "seamless" care -- all at
one location.  As before, priority for admission to the center
will be given to children of Ohio State students, faculty and
staff members, Fountain said.

     The expansion project also involves some renovations in the
existing building to make better use of space.  The new
construction includes 2,000 square feet dedicated to 15 medically
fragile children, 1,000 square feet for 12 additional toddlers,
1,000 square feet of common space to be used by all children for
large muscle activities, and 500 square feet for offices, storage
and adult restrooms.

     The $500,000 construction cost of the project will be funded
through external sources and user fees and will not involve any
university general funds.

                                #

Contact: Judy Fountain, (614) 292-0393.


[Submitted by: REIDV  (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Fri, 04 Feb 1994 15:30:42 -0500 (EST)]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.