Riley Safety Store at Tipton Hospital Celebrates Grand Opening

07/10/2008

The Riley Safety Store at Tipton Hospital, the newest addition to Riley Hospital's ever-growing statewide network of Riley Safety Stores, opened its doors on Saturday, June 28, with an official ribbon cutting ceremony commemorating the first official day of operation.

The grand opening celebration, from 9 am to 12 noon at the Riley Safety Store at Tipton Hospital, attracted a steady stream of children and parents from the community, who visited the Riley Safety Store to purchase low-cost child safety products (bike helmet fittings in the Safety Store were quite popular!), learned more about child safety information and best practices from Chrissy Profitt, Manager of the Riley Safety Store at Tipton Hospital, picked up Kids Dart. Drive Smart. yard signs, participated in a Grand Opening coloring contest and entered to win one of two 20" bikes. Michael Harlowe, President and CEO, Penny Lee, and Lora Gates of Tipton Hospital; Frank Giammarion, President of the Tipton County Foundation, educators from Tipton County Farm Safety Just 4 Kids, firefighters from the Tipton Fire Department, and Dr. Karen Bruner Stroup, representing the Riley Safety Store Team, also attended.

Tipton Hospital CEO Mike Marlowe praised the Riley Safety Store at Tipton Hospital as one of Tipton Hospital's opportunities to give back to the community in a very tangible way to demonstrate the hospital's commitment to the safety of children. The Riley Safety Store at Tipton Hospital will offer residents of Tipton and surrounding counties injury prevention information and low cost safety products, including bike helmets, cabinet locks, outlet covers, window cord wraps and bath water thermometers, all in one convenient and accessible place immediately inside the entrance to Tipton Hospital. "What's unique about Riley Safety Stores anywhere in Indiana is that parents can count on not only finding low-cost child safety products but on spending time with a Riley Safety Store educator, like Chrissy Profitt at Tipton, who spends time with each family to train and teach parents on how to use safety products properly," says Cara Fast, MSW, Manager of the Riley Safety Store at Riley Hospital.

The Riley Safety Store at Riley Hospital, established in 2005 as the first in the nation to serve all children, including children with disabilities or health care needs, recognizes the importance of Riley Hospital's leadership to help make safety affordable and accessible to all children in Indiana. Along with serving thousands of families annually, the Riley Safety Store at Riley Hospital has supported and trained a growing Indiana network of partners who now offer Riley Safety Stores not only at Tipton Hospital in Tipton, but also at these locations: Decatur County Memorial Hospital in Greensburg and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. A Riley Safety Store currently is in start-up at Morgan Hospital & Medical Center in Martinsville. Several other Clarian Health affiliate hospitals also have expressed interest in offering Riley Safety Stores at their locations. The Riley Safety Store at Riley Hospital boosts its partner stores in Indiana to self-sufficiency by training and supporting staff on how to negotiate with vendors, educate and involve families, recruit and train staff and implement cost-efficient strategies for product purchase and promotions.

The Riley Safety Store at Riley Hospital also has trained a dozen children's hospitals nationwide in the last two years through a partnership with the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions and also has helped other children's hospitals plan and launch Safety Stores at their hospital locations by sharing advice, resources, and experience. "We are dedicated to being a leader for innovation in child injury prevention on the national and international levels," says Fast, "Here at Riley Hospital, the Riley Safety Store Team has created a very successful model that allows us to introduce new programs and products continually, like our ground-breaking Safe Escape Program (which provides adapted products and education to support safe evacuation of children with disabilities or health care needs in disasters, emergencies, or fires), and our Team is determined to make safety affordable and accessible for all children everywhere."