A nursing crisis in the early 1970s led hospital leaders to brainstorm recruiting tools to attract and retain registered nurses. Little did Phil Mall know that an idea he helped develop would later benefit his daughter, now an employee, and his three grandchildren.
As manager of nonclinical nursing operations, Phil collaborated with other administrators in 1973 to develop on-site childcare services for children of registered nurses who worked evenings. This concept evolved into the current Children’s Learning Center, which now serves all staff with children from infants to kindergarten age.
“There was a gap between when mom left for work and dad came home from work,” Phil remembered.
The hospital’s childcare program filled that gap and proved valuable in attracting and retaining nurses. It also had another benefit.
“We realized dads waited in the parking lot and paid for an extra hour just so the staff would feed their children and dress them for bed,” Phil laughed.
Phil’s daughter, Wound Healing Center Director Wendy Mall-McKee, BSN, CHRN, CWCN, remembered attending the Children’s Learning Center when her dad worked late. When she joined NKCH in 2001, Wendy enrolled her children.
“It was so convenient having them close by,” Wendy said.
Despite its introduction 52 years ago, on-site daycare for businesses is still an anomaly due to the operating costs, with only 9% of businesses with 500 or more employees offering the service, according to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and Mercer.
Phil made his mark on NKCH in other ways as his responsibilities evolved to director of Professional Services and a transition to the clinical areas of respiratory therapy, lab and radiology. He helped centralize care in patient rooms, was part of the team that purchased the hospital’s first CT scanner in 1976 and led an initiative to market to smaller, rural hospitals.
Remarkably, Wendy worked alongside some of the same staff who had previously worked with her father.
“It was amazing to work beside leaders my dad knew and reminisce with them on how healthcare has changed,” Wendy said.
