Nearly a month after opening, the Armed Services YMCA Children’s Waiting Room at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Texas, has already helped military families, serving more than 75 children in 10 operating days.
“Parents are providing positive feedback, including how thankful they are we have this service for them,” Sheri Yerrington, Executive Director of Armed Services YMCA Killeen, Texas, said.
Children’s Waiting Room is a child care program located in military hospitals and clinics that allows parents to attend scheduled appointments with another child or for themselves. When families can drop off their children inside the hospital at no cost, they are more likely to attend scheduled appointments. 
The Children’s Waiting Room at Fort Hood, made possible with support from Humana Military, opened June 13. More than 90 appointments have been scheduled since July 1. It’s open Monday through Friday, and accepts children ages 6 weeks to 12 years for up to 2 hours.
“Anything we can do to improve the overall well-being of the families we support is an honor and a pleasure,” Humana Military President Brent Densford said. “We hope we can make the lives of parents and children alike easier with this waiting room, tailored to meet the unique demands of military families.”
“We are glad the Children’s Waiting Room at Fort Hood is already so well received,” William French, President/CEO of Armed Forces YMCA, said. “This program helps our service members take care of their families and themselves and to make better health care decisions when they aren’t faced with the challenge of finding child care.”
In locations with a Children’s Waiting Room, hospital administrators report a drop in no-show rates. Col. David Gibson, the Darnall commander, told tdtnews.com the hospital hopes to see a 30 to 40% drop in the no-show rate with the new Children’s Waiting Room.
The Fort Hood Children’s Waiting Room is the third in central Texas. The others are operated by the Armed Services YMCA in Harker Heights and Copperas Cove. There are more than 10 Armed Services YMCA Children’s Waiting Rooms, and there were nearly 18,000 children cared for in 2018.
ABOUT ARMED SERVICES YMCA:
The Armed Services YMCA is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that serves currently serving military members and their families. In 2017, we registered more than 250,000 participants and delivered more than 1.3 million points of services to junior enlisted Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen and family members at 200 service centers in 18 states. The Armed Services YMCA is a nonprofit with a mission: Strengthening Our Military Family.
