Hillcrest Nursing Home forced to close daycare

McCOOK, Neb. – Hillcrest’s Little Folks Childcare will be closing effective Feb. 28, 2022.

The announcement was made to parents in a meeting Wednesday and in a letter signed by Hillcrest Administrator James Foster. “We are heartbroken over this very difficult decision, but we simply cannot staff the childcare adequately now and in future months to come.”

Foster told the Gazette that the childcare currently serves 28 children and employs three full-time and two part-time staff members. Foster said that Hillcrest had job openings and could absorb all of the Little Folks staff, if they chose to transition to the nursing home side. He said that the childcare provides services for three Hillcrest staff members, and the rest of Little Folks clientele are community members.

Foster said they were changing their childcare licensing status to “inactive” and if the labor force becomes more plentiful in the future, they would have the option of re-opening at some point in the future.

McCook Economic Development Director Andy Long said his office is reaching out to other providers in the community to find out what openings are available.

He said that information will be forwarded to Little Folks Childcare to be shared with parents. He said that he knows of one provider who is going through the licensing process now and hopes to open an in-home childcare early next year.

“While this is understandably devastating news for Little Folks parents and we feel their anguish at losing their childcare, McCook has grown over 100 childcare spots over the last two years,” Long told the Gazette.