Siheung City announced on the 3rd that it has begun operating the nation's first childcare center located within a medical facility.
The Ainuri Childcare Center, established on the fourth floor of Jungang OB-GYN Clinic in Daeya-dong, officially launched services with the city providing the space and Rodeo Happy Village Social Cooperative handling operations.
The program's key feature is the addition of "sick child care" to existing childcare functions. The center provides bed-based care for children with temporary illnesses who do not require hospitalization. When guardians cannot visit hospitals due to work commitments, the center also offers hospital escort services to ease parenting burdens.
Dual-income and single-parent households have long faced childcare gaps when children suddenly fall ill, forcing parents to repeatedly take time off work and creating significant work-life balance challenges. The city established this new public childcare system in collaboration with medical institutions to address these gaps.
The program aligns with the government's National Task 101-2, "Village-Wide Elementary Care," which integrates childcare and education through cooperation among schools, communities, and public institutions. Building on public-private-academic governance experience since 2023, the city plans to use this hospital-linked model as a core example and gradually expand community-tailored childcare infrastructure.
The Ainuri Childcare Center Daeya branch serves children aged 3 to 12. Hospital escort services operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., while bed-based care runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
"This project represents a Siheung-style care model through public-private medical cooperation, going beyond simply expanding facilities," said Jo Hyun-ja, Director of the Gender Equality and Family Bureau. "We will lead village-wide elementary care, create an environment where parents can work with peace of mind, spread gender-equal work-life balance culture, and build a comprehensive care safety net for all children in Siheung to grow up healthy."