Penn Highlands State College hospital this week held an interfaith blessing ceremony for its Safe Haven Baby Box, a device that offers a safe and legal option for parents in crisis who are unable to care for their newborns.
The Baby Box is located in an exterior wall outside the emergency department of the hospital at 239 Colonnade Boulevard. When a baby is placed inside, the door automatically locks and the emergency department staff receives an instant notification that an infant has been relinquished. The box opens inside the emergency department, and the baby is immediately removed and examined.
“Penn Highlands State College is an excellent location for the Safe Haven Baby Box because it is located outside of our Emergency Department which is staffed 24/7 – 365 days a year,” Rhonda Halstead, regional market president Penn Highlands Healthcare’s Central Region, said in a statement. “Mothers can surrender their babies with the knowledge that they will be immediately cared for by medical professionals.”
The Penn Highlands State College Emergency Department is one of only two locations in Pennsylvania with a Safe Haven Baby Box. The other is at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster.
Pennsylvania’s Newborn Protection Act, also known as the Safe Haven Law, was enacted in 2002. It allows parents to legally surrender a child up to 28 days old at most hospitals, to a police officer at a police station or an emergency services provider at an EMS station, as long as the child is not a victim of abuse or other criminal misconduct, according to the commonwealth’s Safe Haven Law website.
Since 2003, 53 babies in Pennsylvania have been relinquished under the Safe Haven Law, according to the state’s Department of Human Services.
Penn Highlands Healthcare officials were joined Tuesday by Safe Haven Baby Box representatives, community members and clergy, with remarks by Pastor Kevin Orndorff, chaplain at Penn Highlands DuBois, and a blessing by Pastor Don Hunter, Chaplain of Penn Highlands DuBois East.
The new, $90 million Penn Highlands State College — an 82,000-square-foot hospital and 32,000-square-foot medical arts building — opened this summer. It is the ninth Penn Highlands hospital and first built from the ground up since the system’s formation in 2011.
In addition to the emergency department, it includes a surgical department, lab and radiology services, physicians’ offices, a walk-in clinic and a retail pharmacy.
