(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - Dozens of pairs of shoes were bid on, bought, and brought home to closets across Ketchikan Saturday night. Along the way almost $43,000 was raised at the SoleStice, the annual shoe auction sponsored by the Ketchikan Medical Center Foundation.

Proceeds this year will be used in New Beginnings Birthing Center for bili-blankets and Baby Boxes and for new beds in New Horizons Transitional Care Unit.

First Bank table... First Bank made a pre-SoleStice donation of $5000 to begin purchase of the Baby Boxes ‘starter kits’.
Photo courtesy PKMC

Bili-Blankets provide “blue light” treatment for babies born with Hyperbilirubinemia. Each year at KMC about 20 babies need this phototherapy which, untreated, can cause damage to the brain and other organs. Until now, the treatment required the newborn to return or remain in the hospital for a few days. Now babies who have ‘baby jaundice’ can go home to get better.

Baby Boxes are modeled on a Finnish initiative that gives new parents baby items in a box large enough to double as a newborn’s first crib. Finland has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. These Baby Boxes are ‘starter kits’ that include clothing, diapers and a mattress and are given to parents who complete a one-hour Infant Sleep Safety course in partnership with Ketchikan Public Health. First Bank made a pre-SoleStice donation of $5000 to begin purchase of the Baby Boxes.

Ty and Shelley Hewitt who got a Baby Box. Baby Boxes are ‘starter kits’ that include clothing, diapers and a mattress and are given to parents who complete a one-hour Infant Sleep Safety course in partnership with Ketchikan Public Health.
Photo courtesy PKMC

New Horizons has 29 long-term care beds. The average patient spends 71 days in transitional care when they need a higher level of nursing and care management. Long stays mean the patients’ rooms become like home, and comfort and environment play an important role in their well-being. An opportunity arose to buy all new beds at a huge cost savings.

Some of the dozens of pairs of shoesthat were bid on...
Photo courtesy PKMC

This is the ninth year for the SoleStice and, while this wasn’t the highest net year, it was in the top three. The most successful SoleStice was in 2013 when money was raised for the Infusion Therapy Suite.

Source of News:

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center (PKMC)
www.peacehealth.org/ketchikan

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Ketchikan, Alaska

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