OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Helps Bring Safe Haven Baby Box to Kenton

OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Helps Bring Safe Haven Baby Box to Kenton

An error occurred while preparing your download

Key Takeaways:

• A new Safe Haven Baby Box is now available at BKP Ambulance District in Kenton, offering parents in crisis a safe and anonymous option to surrender a newborn.
• OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital provided funding for the box, partnering with BKP Ambulance District and Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
• The climate-controlled box alerts first responders when a newborn is placed inside, who can retrieve the baby within minutes for evaluation at Hardin Memorial.

A new Safe Haven Baby Box is now available in Kenton, providing parents experiencing a crisis with a safe and anonymous option to surrender a newborn.

The community gathered Tuesday, Sept. 15, at BKP Ambulance District to celebrate the installation and blessing of the new box. Community members and first responders attended the ceremony, which included remarks from Kenton Mayor Lynn Webb and City Council President Joel Althauser. Pastor Eric Risner of Abundant Life Assembly of God Church offered a blessing prayer for the box and the families it may serve.

OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital provided funding to bring the box to the community, working with BKP Ambulance District and Safe Haven Baby Boxes to make the resource available.

"Mothers have a nice anonymous, safe surrender," said Shelly Prater with BKP Ambulance District. "We've always had a safe haven law so they could walk into any fire department or hospital and hand the baby over, but there's no anonymity when it comes to that."

The box is installed on the exterior of the BKP facility, allowing a parent to surrender a newborn who is 30 days old or younger without entering the building or speaking directly with another person. Its climate-controlled chamber remains at 70 degrees year-round, and an alarm immediately alerts BKP first responders. Prater said staff can retrieve the baby within five minutes, after which the infant will be taken to Hardin Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

For Hardin Memorial, the project extends its commitment to supporting the community beyond the hospital and working alongside local emergency services.

"Contributing to this effort illustrates that it's a partnership with everyone in the community," said Charity Coffman, director of nursing at Hardin Memorial. "Our commitment to care reaches beyond the walls of the hospital. It's connecting with the community."

Coffman said the partnership will continue beyond the installation of the box, with associates already discussing future opportunities to support the effort. Ongoing operations of Safe Haven Baby Boxes are funded through donations.

"It's a shared vision," she said. "And I think it's a wonderful illustration of all the values that we support, a safe haven for the little ones who don't have a place."

The box is the 29th Safe Haven Baby Box in Ohio and the 471st in the nation.

"We have a lot of mothers in crisis," said Prater. "Any kind of option that's going to help someone, that's why I do what I do."

The Kenton Safe Haven Baby Box is located at BKP Ambulance District, 439 S. Main St., Kenton.

"This is important in every community," said Mariah Betz, assistant project coordinator for Safe Haven. "You just never know when a crisis is going to strike. So the more the boxes that we have available, the better we are."

An error occurred while preparing your download