Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), one of the largest employers in the New Haven area, is in the process of “pursuing a strategic partnership with Bright Horizons” for its daycare facilities without transparency and with little regard for its impact on the teachers, children, or parents that rely on the daycare.

Despite a revenue of over $3.9 billion in 2022 and an income of nearly $750 million from 2018-2022 (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/60646652 this was likely a financial decision. Parents even suggested raising the price of the daycare to ensure the teachers and daycare we love are preserved, but the hospital administration rejected this as the daycare is not “a core business”, despite running this daycare for over 30 years. 

While the contract has yet to be finalized, the lack of transparency is already having a profound impact on the teachers we love. The little that has been disclosed has led to more anxiety amongst teachers. Teachers, who are currently hospital employees, have been told that they would need to reapply for jobs with Bright Horizons, with few details regarding how this would impact their current pay and benefits. Understandably, multiple teachers, including the director of the daycare, have resigned in the month of January alone to find employment they know will be secure. Parents and teachers don’t even know if the daycare will survive until the transition or need to close as more teachers leave.

Parents have requested a system wide town hall by sending letters to hospital leadership seeking full transparency on the situation, but this has not been granted. There still remains little information regarding the outsourcing arrangement, a timeline of potential changes, or details about how teachers’ priorities will be respected and heard . 

YNHH states on its website (https://www.ynhh.org/careers/working-here/recognition that it’s proud to be recognized for its commitment and dedication to its employees. Yet they have shown clear disregard for the needs of teachers and parents who are both hospital employees.  

YNHH states on their website “of all the awards we've received through the years, we're extremely proud of the ones that show just how much effort we put into making Yale New Haven Hospital a great place to work.” Awards which include "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" from Working Mother magazine and "Employer of Choice" by Working Mother magazine. Yet the decision to outsource the daycare will have a clear disproportionate impact on working mothers who are both teachers and parents of the daycare.

YNHH states on its website (https://www.ynhh.org/about/hospital-overview that some of its core values are integrity, respect, accountability, and compassion. Yet, there is clearly a lack of integrity in the absence of transparency in this process and a lack of respect and compassion for teachers who have worked here for decades only to have their job and benefits undergo drastic changes without their input while being told to “prepare their resumes” by supervisors.

By supporting this petition:

- You are advocating for YNHH’s leadership team to immediately provide full transparency and fair treatment of the teachers throughout this process. To ensure their priorities in this transition are given precedence over those of a medical center mostly trying to save money.

- You are putting YNHH’s leadership team on notice that future situations where they are planning to outsource labor to cut costs must be done with full transparency throughout the process including involving impacted parties in meaningful decision making roles and in priority setting. 

-You are joining a community seeking to push YNHH to practice their values of integrity, respect, accountability, and compassion. To be a non-profit whose goal is actually the betterment of their community and employees rather than the bottom line.