A small cost, a big impact for everyone

Dear Editor:

 While we understand everyone can have their opinions, Mr. Schoenweis is casting aspersions without data to support his statements. It is unfortunate that anywhere in the country we would need a service such as the Safe Haven Baby Box, however, it is needed and not just in big cities. 

 Since 2017, we have had 7 involuntary surrenders at our hospital. That is about 1 baby per year, indicating a need in our community for additional resources. We also had a safe, voluntary surrender under the Idaho safe haven laws at our hospital in 2023. In 2025, the state of Idaho had 6 safe surrenders according to the department of health and welfare. Having the Safe Haven Baby Box works to save lives. They also are a repository of information for mothers in need.

 Regarding the one publicized case of the mother being charged, that baby was placed in the box already deceased. We have no idea all the details that went into that case, but the 6 safe surrenders in Idaho as well as the national data from Safe Haven indicate a 100% success rate of survival of babies placed alive in the baby boxes.

 If we want to debate the value, $29,000 is a tiny fraction of the value of a life. If you take all emotion out of the conversation on the value of life, the DOT/OSHA data indicates that the average value of a person’s life is about $129,000 per year, or $8-10M over a lifetime (i.e. their economic impact). So, if putting the Safe Haven Baby Box here at our hospital saves just one life, and we estimate that life value on the conservative end, we paid $29,000 to generate approximately $8M in value over that child’s life. That $29,000 generated 275 times the investment. I’d take that rate of return on any investment!

 Our mission at Weiser Memorial Hospital is “To save lives, improve health, and build community.” Adding a resource such as the Safe Haven Baby Box does all those things, and we are proud to provide this new resource.

Beau D. McNeff, MBA

Chief Executive Officer

Weiser Memorial Hospital