Over the last 18 years, Chelsea Gesler has watched the children of Logan Health’s staff grow up at Kid Kare, the hospital system’s in-house day care program.

Currently the senior department assistant, Gesler spent many years as a teacher at the day care that’s been operating since the 1990s. She wanted a career where she could balance kids and work, like many of the employees at the hospital who utilize the center.

“We get very close to our families that are here. So, we might not be over in the main hospital, but we still know the happenings. We’re an open facility, so parents can come see their kids whenever they want, which is a nice benefit for them as well,” Gesler said.

Kid Kare is a nonprofit, state-certified center that cares for children up to 6 years old of Logan Health employees. It has an infant facility with a capacity for 32 babies and a main facility that can accommodate about 170 children.

The infant center is especially helpful for hospital employees, as care for young babies can be even more difficult to find than for older children. Gesler said for infant care, there must be a ratio of one provider for every four babies. So, it can be hard for smaller centers to offer care due to hiring challenges.

In her 12 years of teaching at Kid Kare, she spent most of her time with the infants including the 1-year-olds.

“I love that age, because I got to see them change and learn things so quickly. It’s really fun to watch them come into your classroom and start with one point, then when they leave, they’re like this little formed human who has their own way to do things,” Gesler said.

A people person, Gesler said she loves to interact with families on a daily basis. Not only does she get to do the work she enjoys, but she said her job feels secure and provides benefits, which can be hard to find in the child care industry.

“I also work for an organization that has benefits, which is something that [many jobs] in child care don’t always have. It’s hard to get into this field and have sort of comfortable, steady feeling of ‘my job is important and is valued and I don’t have to worry about insurance for my kids,’” Gesler said.

She’s seen Kid Kare go through many changes, from growing capacity for kids to watching the numbers dwindle during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Gesler said because child care has high turnover, the center ebbs and flows in terms of staffing needs.

But she doesn’t see Kid Kare slowing down any time soon.

She hears often from people who work at Logan Health that they are appreciative of having Kid Kare so close by.

“They really appreciate that we’re on campus, especially those ones that have, you know, newborn babies that might be wanting to utilize the option to come see their kiddo or feed their baby,” Gesler said.

Vice President of Human Resources at Logan Health Austin Neese said hospital leadership recognizes that family comes first, and having access to reliable, high-quality child care is essential for employees to deliver on their mission to provide quality health care.

“There’s a shortage of child care providers in the Flathead Valley — I felt this myself when I had great difficulty finding day care for my own kids. By providing this service, we are trying to reduce a burden on our employees,” Neese said.

He said the option of the day care allows the hospital to attract and retain top talent.

“We can’t control for every external stressor, but if we want to be an employer of choice in the valley — and we do — then we need to support our employees how we can. It’s a big investment, but as with all investments, we think it will pay off,” Neese said.

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at [email protected].