Pediatric Interim Care Center Nurtures the Smallest, Most Vulnerable Members of the Community

It’s the silence that amazes you the most. The tiniest little babies swaddled in pink, blue, yellow or in green. They come into this world under the most cruel of circumstances, but they have a future because they are being treated by the extraordinary people who run Pediatric Interim Care Center (PICC) in Kent.

PICC is a 24-hour care facility that serves babies born addicted to drugs all around the South King County region, and they recently received a modest grant during the .

These little people were born addicted to methamphetamines, cocaine, prescription drugs or some other opiate.  There are 10-13 babies that are served here at a time. They are referred to PICC by DSHS or local hospitals.

Upon entry to the nursery, the babies are examined by a nurse to see if the baby needs to be on morphine to ease them through their withdrawal. The decision is based upon which drug the baby is addicted. The baby is then swaddled in cotton diapers, clothing and blankets.

“The little ones are working so hard to keep their bodies intact. The cotton clothing absorbs the sweat,” said Barbara Drennen, executive director of PICC.

While the babies sleep most of the day, when they are awake they must be kept as calm as possible. “We don’t do a lot of handling of the babies,” Drennen said. “Stimuli is their worst enemy.”

Most of the babies do have a parent or grandparent that visits them at the nursery. About half of the opiate babies go home to relatives and about half go home to mom and dad. The numbers change, though, for the meth and cocaine babies. Most of those babies go into foster care.

PICC receives much of its funding from the legislature. “We are a line item in the legislature’s budget,” said Drennen. But clearly in this legislative year, that funding could be at risk. The state has already reduced the amount the nursery gets from $153/day to $146 per day.

The modest amount per day to raise the babies at PICC is compared to $3700 per day to have the same baby in a hospital.

All of the nursey items they use like clothing and diapers are donated. They always need diapers, and the cloth ones are the preferable.

Other funding comes from private donations, including one woman who has given $100,000 per year since the nursery opened in 1990. In 2006, the nursery care facility moved to a spacious new home that is warm and welcoming to the babies.

When the babies enter PICC, their first stop is the Reichert Family Admission room, named for Congressman Dave Reichert (R) and his family, who live in Auburn. Reichert has been one of PICC’s staunch supporters. Two of his six grandchildren were PICC babies.

Reichert donated the proceeds of his book Chasing the Devil: My twenty-year quest to capture the Green River Killer to PICC because it was the right thing to do. The story needed to be told, but he had no intention of profiting in any way from the lives that were affected by those horrific crimes.

Reichert has a fairly long history with the organization. Just about the time he was publishing his book, his middle child, Tabitha was beginning to foster children. During the process she learned about the good works at PICC. Tabitha and her husband adopted two PICC babies. She was interested in helping children that needed a little special assistance, according to her father.

“My grandchildren have truly been a blessing to our entire family,” Reichert said. The grandchildren, who call him “papa,” are now ages 8 and 4; their picture graces his Mercer Island desk. The babies each came home from PICC at about 3 months old. The children only have minor symptoms now related to being born addicted.

Reichert’s passion to the organization runs deep. He tells a story of making a visit to the center, and encountering a mother silently rocking her baby. As a cop, Reichert said, I like to get close to people. He bent down and gently stroked the baby’s back, and said, “Hi, I’m Dave.” The mother got tears in her eyes and said, “I know who you are,” clearly affected by his visit.

Reichert finds PICC important for many reasons, including helping to break the cycle of abuse so prevalent in these families. As a police officer and then Sherriff, he saw so many people who got mixed up with the wrong crowd and ended up with problems with drugs, alcohol, domestic abuse, and violence.

“It is important to break the cycle of having these young people on the streets,” Reichert said.

Ironically, and sadly, there is another connection between the Green River killings and PICC.  One of  the Green River victims who has never been found, Kelly McGinnis, had a baby that was a foster child in Drennen’s home.

Drennan who has three adopted children herself is in every way the mother of all of the babies that comes through the doors of PICC.

Reichert said that PICC is a great organization that continues to be a blessing as it serves the community.

“Drugs are insidious and have affected every family in America,” said Drennen. “We must not turn our heads but stand up and be a voice for the children.”

Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Congressman Reichert and his family live in Auburn, not Mercer Island; and that his daughter Tabitha is the middle child, not the oldest of his children.