Fort Bragg opens Children’s Waiting Room to help Families prioritize health
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — For military parents, making a medical appointment can sometimes require solving another problem first: finding someone to care for their children.
A new Children’s Waiting Room at Fort Bragg aims to remove that barrier by providing no-fee childcare for eligible Families while parents attend medical appointments at Womack Army Medical Center or installation health clinics.
The Armed Services YMCA officially opened the new location Oct. 1 at the Laredo Child Development Center, marking the return of a program designed to make accessing health care easier for military Families in the community.
“What a fun week at Fort Bragg,” Lt. Gen. Gregory Anderson said. “I wish every week could include three ribbon cuttings.”
For Anderson, this celebration represented more than opening another facility. It highlighted Fort Bragg’s commitment to improving quality of life and supporting military Families.
The Children’s Waiting Room gives parents a safe place to leave their children during appointments, allowing them to focus on their own health without the added concern of finding or paying for childcare.
“Balancing care for young children while trying to focus on personal health and medical care isn’t easy,” Jeremy Hester, Executive Director for the ASYMCA, Fort Bragg, said. “Too often, a lack of accessible childcare becomes a major barrier to receiving timely healthcare or making it to scheduled appointments.”
This concept is not new to Fort Bragg. A Children’s Waiting Room previously opened at Womack and other installation health clinics in 2018, but those locations closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need, however, remained.
Over the following years, the ASYMCA worked with Fort Bragg leadership to identify an opportunity to bring the program back to the installation. Coordination between installation leadership, Womack Army Medical Center and Child and Youth Services ultimately helped secure a location for the program.
“Their passion for serving our military Families during their health journeys made it possible for the ASYMCA to provide this existing program on the installation,” Hester said.
Unlike traditional childcare, the Children’s Waiting Room is offered at no cost to military ID card holders attending health appointments at Womack or installation clinics. The Fort Bragg location serves children ages 12 months to 12 years and offers up to two hours of care per appointment.
The program operates Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with the final appointment beginning at 2 p.m. Nine childcare appointment slots are available each hour.
Parents must first complete an online registration, including required personal information and waivers. Once registered, Families can reserve a specific appointment time. The program follows the safety protocols used by Fort Bragg Child and Youth Services child development centers.
The Children’s Waiting Room is part of a broader ASYMCA program currently offered across 15 military installations. According to the organization, health facilities associated with the program have reported a 35% decrease in missed appointments, no-shows and cancellations.
“We’re so excited to have a place here on the installation that offers free childcare during medical appointments,” Lou Anderson, wife of Lt. Gen. Gregory Anderson, said. “As a mother of three, I know how difficult it can be to make it to appointments when you also have to find childcare. It’s great to see this investment in our community.”
Anderson also recognized ASYMCA leadership for helping make the program possible. “I’ve never seen a nonprofit director with the kind of passion Jeremy Hester has for serving our community,” she said.
For Fort Bragg, the ASYMCA team hopes the impact extends beyond making individual appointments easier to attend. For military parents, that support can be as simple as knowing that when it is time to take care of their own health, their children have a safe place to go.
“We hope this program will help make health a priority for our military Families,” Hester said. “We hope it reduces the number of missed or cancelled appointments over the next year. Finally, we hope to contribute to the overall readiness of Service Members by taking care of their Families.”
The Children’s Waiting Room is located at Laredo Child Development Center, Building 401 on Stiner Road. Families can find additional information and register through the ASYMCA’s Fort Bragg Children’s Waiting Room webpage.
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