Westerly & Connecticut area families to benefit by hospitals’ diaper collections

Yale New Haven Health distributing diapers to community organizations

Throughout the month of March, employees at Yale New Haven Health hospitals – Bridgeport, Greenwich, Lawrence + Memorial, Westerly and Yale New Haven hospitals – donated thousands of diapers to be distributed to organizations throughout the communities they serve.

Diapers are a basic need for infants, babies, and toddlers. They are just as essential to their health and well-being as food and shelter. Nearly one in three families struggle to afford diapers to keep their babies clean, dry and healthy, according to the Diaper Bank of Connecticut.

Donations were made to the following organizations:

• Lawrence + Memorial Hospital – Thames Valley Council for Community Action/WIC – 2,995 diapers and 1,068 wipes
• Westerly Hospital – Jonnycake Center, Westerly, RI, and Pantry on the Lane, Bradford, RI – 1,630 diapers

Also, 

• Bridgeport Hospital – Center for Family Justice – 3,600 diapers
• Greenwich Hospital – Neighbor-to-Neighbor and the Carver Center – 3,240 diapers
• Bridgeport Hospital – Milford Campus and Yale New Haven Hospital – Diaper Bank of CT – 6,385 diapers, plus donations of more than $5,700, enough to purchase approximately 34,000 additional diapers.

Parents often are forced to choose between paying for food or buying diapers, and the stress of a decision like that takes a toll on the entire family. According to the Diaper Bank, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) do not cover the cost of diapers.

Some parents have no choice but to leave their baby in a soiled diaper for extended periods or even reuse previously soiled diapers, which increases the risk of urinary tract infections, hepatitis, and severe diaper rash.

Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS), the largest and most comprehensive healthcare system in Connecticut, is recognized for advanced clinical care, quality, service, cost effectiveness and commitment to improving the health status of the communities it serves. YNHHS includes five hospitals – Bridgeport, Greenwich, Lawrence + Memorial, Westerly and Yale New Haven hospitals, several specialty networks and Northeast Medical Group, a non-profit medical foundation with several hundred community-based and hospital-employed physicians. YNHHS is affiliated with Yale University and YSM’s clinical physician practice, Yale Medicine, which is the largest academic multi-specialty practice in New England. YNHHS and Yale partner on clinical care, education and research, bringing the latest discoveries, technology and therapies to patients. www.ynhhs.org