News

Contact: Mary Roberts

North Platte, Neb., April 14, 2022 – Great Plains Health and Ladybug Crossing Early Learning Center are joining resources to open a second Ladybug Crossing campus and ensure greater access to childcare resources in Lincoln County.

Ladybug Crossing will lead all operations for the north campus in a building owned by Great Plains Health. The north campus will open this spring at 1210 S. Ash St., in the former North Platte Kids Academy building. The Ladybug Crossing main campus will remain at 491 W. State Farm Rd.

Community collaboration and innovative solutions bring the vision for this facility to life.

“Ladybug Crossing is excited to have the opportunity to open and run a new facility,” Chantel Tonkinson, director of Ladybug Crossing, says. “This will allow other families a chance to experience the quality of care for which we’re known. We are so happy that Communities for Kids (C4K) has enabled us to be a part of a group of childcare providers in North Platte that strive to provide the best opportunities for the children of our community to succeed."

C4K, an organization in North Platte that partners with community leaders to support and coordinate planning for access to high-quality early care and education, led a task force that enabled a discussion and brought awareness to the need for quality childcare.

“As one of the leading employers in the county, Great Plains Health is truly a part of this community,” Ivan Mitchell, CEO of Great Plains Health, says. “That also means we are a part of the solution to obstacles that we face as a whole. It was a natural decision for us to offer this safe, quality facility as a resource from which a local childcare organization could run their operations.”

Diane Livingston, early childhood community coordinator at C4K, says the teamwork behind this new facility is a great effort to making childcare resources more available.

“Families might come to North Platte for a good opportunity, but quality childcare ensures that they will stay here,” Livingston says. “We’re seeing that reflected in other communities.”

Childcare is essential for a community’s long-term growth and success.

“As we struggle to solve the current labor shortage, we must continue to think holistically. Solving childcare challenges will be a great first step to solving our labor problems. This will be a great collaboration,” Mike Jacobson, a member of the C4K task force and chair of the planning and strategy committee on the Great Plains Health board of directors, says.

Community leaders from public and private entities served on the C4K task force and include: Skip Altig, Chris Bruns, Holly Clouse, Dr. Ron Hanson, Mike Jacobson, Mayor Brandon Kelliher, Matthew Kibbon, Diane Livingston, Mel McNea, Ivan Mitchell, Stephanie Morris, Mark Oettinger, Dave Pederson, Gary Person, Ryan Purdy, Peggy Romshek, Caroline Sabin, Rachel Sissel, Tina Smith, Chantel Tonkinson, Emily Wiest and Greg Wilke.

Ladybug Crossing’s north campus offers eight different classrooms for children from six weeks old and fifth grade. The facility will be open from 5:15 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday. Classrooms are fully enrolled, but families are welcome to join a waitlist to secure an opening when available. Visit ladybugcrossingelc.com to learn more.

Media and the public are invited to attend an open house to view the Ladybug Crossing north campus on Thursday, April 28 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The event allows community members to meet the staff, view the facilities and enjoy some family fun.

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About Great Plains Health

Based in North Platte, Nebraska, Great Plains Health is a fully accredited, 116-bed acute-care regional medical center serving western and central Nebraska, northern Kansas and southern South Dakota. With 90 physicians representing nearly 30 medical specialties, the Great Plains Health system offers advanced health care, including heart and vascular, cancer, and orthopedic surgery services. Great Plains Health is a Level III trauma center, and all of its emergency department physicians are residency-trained and board-certified in emergency medicine. The system employs approximately 1,200 employees and serves a geographic area spanning approximately 16,000 square miles.

The hospital is accredited by the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality (CIHQ) and is home to an American College of Surgeons-accredited cancer center and Level II bariatric surgery program. For more information, visit gphealth.org.