News Archive | The Press-Enterprise, February 5, 2001 Your Kid’s Sick. You Gotta Go to Work. Now What? The early-morning hubbub is broken by a frail wail: “Mommmmmmmmmy.” Little Marcy, so happy when you tucked her into bed mere hours ago, is pale and sweaty. You could fry an egg on her forehead. On any other day, you and your husband could work half-days, sharing nurse duty. But he’s out of town and you’ve got The Big Presentation at the office. What are you going to do, Mom? If you’re lucky, Grandma is retired and lives across town or the next-door neighbor is a stay-at-home parent who doesn’t mind helping out in a pinch. But what about the rest of us? Depending on where you live, you could take little Marcy to a sick-kid care center, usually run in cooperation with a hospital or regular day-care center. While there are about 300 of these specialized facilities across the country, there are few in the Inland Empire. In San Bernardino County children’s health officials know of no specific program but there is a resource and referral line operated by the County Superintendent of Schools office that may provide help. If you live in south Riverside County, you could call the ABC Child Care Center in Temecula to ask if there’s space in the Chicken Soup Room. This homey place, open since October 1996, has its own cots, tables and chairs, toys and art supplies set aside for kids who are too sick to stay in class -- often those with mild fevers, runny noses or in the waning days of chicken pox or pink eye -- but not so ill they need constant care. Some of the 12 spaces usually are filled by children who attend the center; extra slots are open to the public. “It cuts down tremendously on the number of illnesses passed around in class,” ABC's assistant director Jenny Mott says. “Even parents who don’t use the center benefit, because kids who are sick aren’t sitting next to their (healthy) child in class.” Guided by parents’ pleadings, Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley next fall will open a similar center for 12 children. “Of course, if kids feel miserable, the best place for them is at home,” says Carl Rowe, director of Integrated Care Communities, which will run the new Jan Peterson Child Day Care Center. “But with so many commuters and single-parent families in this area, there’s a real need for this type of care.” The average fee for care is $40 a day. That may seem steep, but $5 an hour isn’t much, considering the extra staffing required. It beats missing a day’s pay for many parents. And, needless to say, it’s cheaper than losing your job. “For some of the people we deal with, it’s really sad,” says ABC’s Mott. “They’re people whose jobs are on the line; they want to care for their child, but they could lose a lot more than a day’s pay if they have to stay at home.” These sick-care centers have a registered nurse on staff who evaluates children each morning, administers medicines as prescribed by their pediatricians, and monitors kids throughout the day. Return to News Archive Main Menu