Last year a fewer than 7,000 infants were born at Cape Fear Valley Health and close to 10 percent of those infants were premature so that is why the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation presents the 19th Annual Friends of Children Golf Classic on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 a.m. at Highland Country Club.

“The purpose of this signature event is to help our Friends of Children which is one of our Friends’ groups under the Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation,” said Tara Hinton, events development coordinator of Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation. “That group provides car seats, gas vouchers, toys, blankets, teddy bears, clothing and all types of programs and services for children and families in need while they are receiving care at our facility.”

Hinton added that the golf tournament plays an integral role in providing the funds for these programs and services and in the past, the golf tournament has helped purchase the first state of the art giraffe bed for the hospital. The giraffe bed mimics the womb of the mother for premature infants. They have since purchased 17 or 18 more giraffe.

“The past few years the golf classic has chosen a project for funding,” said Rachel Richardson, programming development coordinator of Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation. “This year one of the projects for funding is a neonatal transporter for our level three Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.”

Richardson added that Cape Fear Valley’s NICU currently has two transporters but there is great value in providing an additional transporter because if one transporter has any maintenance issue, their NICU team will still have two operating machines. It is also a great benefit when there are prematurely born triplets born at Cape Fear Valley and more often than not, sets of twins and triplets have a higher risk of being born prematurely. The transporter is mobile life support for premature infants and is how the babies are transported from labor and delivery to the NICU. The NICU serves 13 counties in the state of North Carolina.

“With the current state of healthcare reform and the decreasing reimbursements, the foundation and this particular Friends of Golf Classic is able to provide to the children’s areas at Cape Fear Valley Health, which really helps bridge the gap for our hospital as far as needs for patients,” said Richardson.

More than 60,000 children are seen as inpatients and outpatients a year at the Pediatric Emergency Department and the Children’s Center at Cape Fear Valley Health. The remaining portion of the proceeds is going to the Children’s Center renovations at the hospital. If your baby has been born at Cape Fear Valley Health, whether they have gone to the NICU or not, prior to discharge, and if they ever have to go back to the hospital again before they turn 18, they will receive care in the Children’s Center.

“We just want to make sure that we are enhancing the patient environment for children so that they are not lost in the medical world while they are receiving treatment,” said Hinton.

Sponsorship levels for the golf tournament range from $250 to $25,000. For more information and details, call Tara Hinton at 615-1434.