Childcare

For healthcare professionals

Students at Washington University School of Medicine and Saint Louis University want to do everything they can to assist health care professionals in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Several students have signed up to provide childcare for essential health care workers who are needed in the hospital but do not have alternative childcare arrangements available. A list of alternative childcare resources for healthcare workers in the St. Louis area can be found here. 

If you are a healthcare worker in need of childcare

Healthcare Childcare Co-Op

St. Louis-based students who would like to volunteer

Sign Up

Statement of Understanding

Please follow official guidance and common sense precautions regarding exposure history, and refrain from participating if you or any household contacts are symptomatic. Specifically, you agree that the individuals involved: 

1. Has NOT tested positive for COVID-19.

2. Is NOT sick and had NO symptoms in the past 14 days (e.g. including fever, cough, shortness of breath, muscle aches, sore throat, diarrhea, loss of taste or loss of smell).

3. Has NOT traveled 60 miles outside of St. Louis in the past 14 days. 

4. Is NOT in quarantine due to contact with a COVID-19 case (including parents).

5. Student and family are both practicing social distancing (e.g. avoiding groups of 10 or more).

6. Family is not hosting playdates with other children or hosting any other type of social gathering while childcare is being provided.

This is an offer to help, not enrollment in a program offered by or endorsed by any employers or academic institution. HCW Childcare Co-op is not endorsed by the employers of its participants or any affiliate organizations. We are an informal movement comprised of private individuals who want to help connect frontline health workers with options for assistance in this crisis. 

We do not assume liability for volunteers or frontline workers, and participants must use their own discretion to evaluate risk. In considering whether to accept a student-volunteer to care for your children, you should perform your own screening and interviews to determine the qualifications of the student-volunteer in the same manner as you would screen anyone you are considering for child care. Scheduling is between you and the student-volunteer.

Please note that currently, the demand for childcare far outpaces the number of participating volunteers, so we will not be able to accommodate every request. However, this initiative continues to grow, and we hope to be able to accommodate more childcare requests as our mission spreads throughout the WashU and SLU communities.