Baby left outside Portland nursing home

PORTLAND – A baby girl with her umbilical cord still attached was found outside a northeast Portland nursing home Sunday morning, police said.

An employee arriving to work just before 5 a.m. discovered the girl wrapped in some type of cover, said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau.

Emergency crews took the girl to Legacy Emanuel Hospital, where the otherwise healthy infant was being treated for a mild case of hypothermia.

It’s unknown when she was placed outside the door. Schmautz said the infant could have been left anytime between 10 p.m. Saturday and 4:45 a.m. Sunday.

Schmautz said the infant will stay in the hospital for a week and be placed into the custody of the state Department of Human Services. The state will then decide whether to investigate.

Oregon passed the “Safe Place for Newborns” law in 2001 that allows a parent to leave an infant that is 30 days old or younger with an employee of a medical facility or law-enforcement agency – no questions asked unless there are signs of abuse.

Schmautz said investigators will need to determine whether a nursing home counts as a medical facility, and if the person who left the baby broke the law by leaving her at the door and not physically handing her over to someone.