Former PeaceHealth Ketchikan's Specialty Clinics Manager Gail Jones initiated a baby box program in 2017 to provide new mothers with safety resources and essential supplies for their newborns.

Ketchikan's baby box program was the first in the state and modeled after a similar program in Finland, which has among the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. The Finnish government began distributing baby boxes in the 1930s to give all children in Finland, no matter their background, an equal start in life. The local baby box program was funded through a grant from PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center Foundation. The program is currently in hiatus while sustainable funding is being pursued.

Boxes contained newborn essentials. The cardboard box itself also doubles as a bed and came with a firm foam mattress and mattress cover to promote safe sleep habits. Each new parent received education in safe sleep for newborns as a component of the initiative.

To make the baby boxes not just functional but also beautiful keepsakes, Jones worked with Tsimshian artist Ken Decker who created a Northwest Coast-inspired stork design. Decker donated his design to Safe and Sound Innovations, the Kansas City-based company who makes and distributes the baby boxes. Ken's design is available for boxes throughout the United States and internationally. To complement the cardboard box, Ken made a cedar bentwood box that is on display at PeaceHealth's Women's Clinic.