Covenant Health hospitals will give car hangtags to new parents as safety reminders

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, children dying from heatstroke in vehicles is on the rise. On average, every 10 days a child dies from heatstroke in a hot car. In more than half of these deaths, the caregiver forgot the child was in the vehicle.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett is visiting hospital facilities across the state announcing a vehicle hangtag initiative. The hangtags will be distributed to parents at Tennessee’s birthing and children’s hospitals. Secretary Hargett recently addressed Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and Covenant Health leaders, state representatives and the media at the health system’s Fort Sanders West campus, where he described the initiative and showed samples of the hangtags.

The front side of the tag faces the driver and reads, “Where’s Baby?” The back, facing the windshield and passersby, reads, “Baby in Back.”

Jim VanderSteeg, Covenant Health President and CEO, said, “This is a good reminder for new families. At our hospitals, where more than 8,000 babies were born just last year, we care about our very youngest patients.” VanderSteeg noted that despite the uncertainty of current times, it is always important to focus on the safety of both individuals and the community.

Covenant Health received about 10,000 vehicle hangtags to give to new parents at its member hospitals where babies are delivered: Fort Sanders Regional and Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville, Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, LeConte Medical Center in Sevierville, Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System in Morristown and Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville. The six hospitals delivered a total of 8,074 babies in 2019, including 3,150 who were born at Fort Sanders Regional.

The hangtag initiative is in collaboration with the Tennessee Hospital Association, Tennessee Department of Health’s county health departments, Tennessee Highway Patrol and birthing and children’s hospitals across the state of Tennessee.

Award-Winning Women’s Services

BEST for Tennessee Babies Hospital (2019)

Fort Sanders was named a BEST for Tennessee Babies Hospital by the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety for achieving success in three areas critical to newborn health: breastfeeding, early elective delivery elimination, and safe sleep. The hospital met specific criteria required by the Tennessee Department of Health to receive the designation.