Baby Boy Left at Colton Hospital Is in Good Shape

A newborn boy in the care of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center was in good condition Tuesday, one day after he was left with hospital staff by an anonymous man, hospital officials said.

The boy is the first child to be abandoned at the Colton hospital since a 2001 law allowed parents to drop off an unwanted child up to 3 days old at a hospital emergency room without fear of prosecution. Under the law, parents have up to 14 days to petition the courts to regain custody of the infant. If the child is not claimed by the parents in that period, the San Bernardino County Department of Children’s Services assumes legal custody.

Mark H. Uffer, the medical center’s director and chief executive officer, said he was grateful that the baby was turned over to the hospital instead of abandoned in a trash bin, as has been the case for many other newborns. “Fortunately for this baby boy, someone was educated about the law and chose to bring him to our emergency room,” Uffer said.

Medical center officials declined to provide more details about the man or the baby in order to protect the identity of the newborn.