Nearly a third of Fortune magazine’s “best 100 companies to work for” have one thing in common: onsite child care.

City of Hope may soon follow their lead — but only if employees make their voices heard.

The Human Resources Department opened an online survey this week to learn how many City of Hope staff members and physicians and Sodexho employees would use onsite child care now and in the near future. The survey asks employees about their current child-care providers, their expenses, their children’s ages, number of children and other similar topics.

“I believe onsite child care is an important benefit and am committed to surveying the staff to measure the exact need,” said Patti Ossen, interim vice president of human resources.

In the last decade, the number of daycare centers in the nation has grown, and only 28 percent of families with children had a parent who stayed home full time, studies show. Research has shown that onsite child care helps organizations recruit and retain high-quality employees and reduces absenteeism.

But City of Hope cannot create a child-care center without input from staff, said Boris Rashkovsky, Ph.D., organizational development consultant at City of Hope. The organization must know how many people are interested in a center and must make sure such a center could accommodate the staff’s needs.

Child-care solutions provider Children’s Creative Learning Centers, or CCLC, will administer and analyze the results. The company will determine the need for a center and indicate its ideal size and number of staff.

To participate in the survey online, visit the City of Hope intranet page (www.coh.org) and click on the child-care logo or access the survey directly at www.coh.org/childcare. The survey is now open and will close on Feb. 1. Human resources staff will release survey results in late February or early March.

All employees who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 gift certificate good at the Bistro or City of Hope’s cafeteria or gift shop. Four winners will be selected at the end of the survey administration period.

For additional information, please contact Ossen at ext. 62291 or Rashkovsky at ext. 63246.