WEISER, Idaho — A new Safe Haven Baby Box is now available at Weiser Memorial Hospital, giving parents in crisis a legal and anonymous way to surrender a newborn.
The box, unveiled Tuesday, is the third Safe Haven Baby Box in Idaho and one of hundreds installed nationwide. Supporters say the boxes provide a safe alternative for infants who might otherwise be abandoned or placed in danger.
WATCH: How the Weiser community came together to bring Idaho's third Safe Haven Baby Box to life
"We never want this box to ever have to be used, right?" said Beau McNeff, CEO of Weiser Memorial Hospital. "But if we save just one baby's life, all of this is worth it."
The temperature-controlled box is connected directly to the hospital's 24-hour emergency department. Once a baby is placed inside and the door closes, hospital staff are immediately alerted and can quickly retrieve the infant.
"There's never going to be a time when we don't have somebody available to get the baby," McNeff said.
Emily MacKenzie, an emergency room manager at Weiser Memorial Hospital, helped lead the effort to bring the box to Weiser alongside Corinna Farmer, who advocated for the project for years.
MacKenzie said the need for a resource like the Safe Haven Baby Box is not always visible.
"We never truly know the real statistics on babies that are abandoned because it is a crime if you do it unsafely," MacKenzie said. "But even just one baby or mother that's struggling with this, we'd like to give them a tool to keep in their toolbox and know there is a safe way."
Hospital officials said three babies have already been surrendered through traditional Safe Haven channels at Weiser Memorial Hospital since 2022. They say the baby box provides another option designed to remove fear, judgment and barriers during a moment of crisis.
"My goal in the whole thing is to provide unjudgmental love and support for the present and hope for the future," Farmer said.
The project was funded entirely through community donations. Hospital leaders said the roughly $30,000 needed to install the box was raised in about a month.
