Media Relations

BAPTIST HEALTH CO-SPONSORS MARDI GRAS GALA

February 2006 -- Baptist Health Care Foundation and Carrabba’s Italian Grill will team up Feb. 28 (Fat Tuesday) to sponsor a benefit Mardi Gras Gala in downtown Montgomery.

The event will raise funds to purchase new high-tech beds for premature infants being cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

Called “giraffes” because of their long-necked shape, the units allow nurses to provide critical care while maintaining temperature, humidity and other environmental factors in the care of preemies. The units combine the functions of a traditional incubator with a radiant warmer that simulates as closely as possible a mother’s womb.

The giraffe beds are the latest in technology for premature infants and cost upwards of $37,000 each. Twelve beds were recently installed in the NICU at Baptist Medical Center South through a grant from the Baptist Health Care Foundation.

The event will be hosted at 7 p.m. at the RSA Activity Center, 201 Dexter Ave. Tickets are $50 per person or $75 per couple. Corporate tables for eight may be reserved for $400 each. Guests will be treated to New Orleans-style entertainment by the Troy University Jazz Ensemble, a sit-down dinner sponsored by Carrabba’s Italian Grill, and a silent auction.

Some of the auction items include fur and leather items from Henig Furs, car detailing packages from Nissan, Montgomery Maulers and Montgomery Biscuits tickets and more. You can even bid on a dinner for 20 that Carrabba’s chefs will cook at your home.

For ticket information, call Dawn Railey, director of development for Baptist Health, at 273-4565.

Baptist Health is the premier healthcare leader in the central Alabama area. The mission of this three-hospital, non-profit system is to promote and improve the physical, emotional and spiritual well being of the people and communities it serves by delivering high quality service within a framework of fiscal responsibility.

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For more information, contact Michelle Jones at 273-4386 or Dawn Railey at 273-4565.