Docs For Tots Endorse Paid Sick Leave

To Ohioans for Healthy Families:

Docs for Tots, a nationwide network of over 1000 doctors advocating for young children, is delighted to join the Ohioans for Healthy Families coalition and to wholeheartedly endorse the Ohio Healthy Families Act.

Docs for Tots’ diverse network is comprised of children’s physicians and includes pediatricians, family practitioners, psychiatrists, surgeons, obstetricians and others. Though our specialties are different, we are united by a common belief that advocacy for young children and their families should extend beyond the walls of our clinics, and that such advocacy is an integral part of pediatric health care.

In our judgment, allowing working parents to earn a minimal number of paid sick days in order to care for themselves and their children is an indispensable condition for encouraging better preventive care and improving the health of Ohio children. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for instance, recommends that babies and children see their pediatricians 6-8 times in their first year of life, twice in the second year and about once a year thereafter. Moreover, research published in Pediatrics magazine shows that children recover faster from illness when parents care for them. But because most doctors’ offices are open only or mainly during normal business hours, parents who do not have paid sick days or who cannot use them to seek treatment for their kids are put in the difficult position of losing pay or even their jobs if they take time off to meet those medical needs.

Yet at present, only about 30% of Ohio’s private sector workers may use paid sick days to care for their children, meaning that more than 3 ½ million Ohio parents must forego pay if they need to stay home to care for a sick child or to take that child to a doctor’s or dentist’s appointment. This results not only in too little preventive care, but also in far too many sick children being sent to school or day care centers (which spreads illness and delays recovery), and far too many older siblings being asked to stay home from school themselves in order to care for their younger brothers or sisters.

In sum, we strongly believe that the children of our state need and will benefit greatly from passage of the Ohio Healthy Families Act. We will spread the word among our colleagues in the medical community and otherwise do all we can to help pass this vital legislation. In the months ahead, we look forward to working with you and our coalition partners in making Ohio a healthier place for children and families.

Dr. Dina Lieser, MD, FAAP
Executive Director