Request for childcare support from UW Medicine

UW Medicine is committed to continuing to provide outstanding healthcare during this challenging and rapidly changing environment. We know that the strain on our healthcare system will only increase from here – and by offering care to clinicians’ children during school and childcare closures, you can play a key role in ensuring that we can continue to provide excellent care to all who need it. These closures may otherwise threaten to compromise our healthcare workforce, but with your help, we can provide the support needed to keep our community healthy.

Whether for a half day, a whole week or even more, every bit of help makes a difference to our ability to provide essential care to those impacted by COVID-19 and their loved ones. We care about your health and the health of our community. If you are currently healthy and not regularly interacting with vulnerable populations (elderly, immunocompromised, pregnant women), we invite you to consider helping. If you can provide childcare in the coming weeks to support our healthcare workers and their families, please fill out an interest form which will allow a family or families in your area to contact you with their child care needs and how you can help them.

While you may opt to volunteer your time if you are able, we have established guidelines around recommended pay rates based on the number of children you will be caring for during the day that you can discuss with the families you will support.

Please take this opportunity to support our UW Medicine healthcare team members – and by extension, your friends, neighbors, and broader community affected by COVID-19 by joining our UW-wide response. We are all in this together and we will make it through by taking care of one another.

With deep gratitude for the incredible UW community we are all a part of shaping,