Sparrow’s Therapy Dogs Help Patients
Sparrow is seeking to expand its volunteer pet therapy program. It's asking Greater Lansing residents to sign up to help bring comfort to patients and their families.
Sparrow's pet therapy program has been comforting patients for 12 years. Patients look forward to seeing dogs and they look forward to seeing them.
It's not just patients who benefit from this. Anyone in or around the hospital enjoys seeing these volunteer dogs.
Volunteers with the therapy dog program visit Sparrow Hospital anywhere from once a week to once a month.
They visit the hospice, pediatrics and patients in the Trauma Services department, among others.
Sparrow's pet therapy program has a dozen dogs, but more are needed. Dogs must be certified by Therapy Dogs International, a volunteer group in New Jersey.
Sparrow can't accept dogs certified through other agencies. They also must be vaccinated, and are required to pass health and testing standards, such as Sparrow's dog training. Here's more from the Lansing State Journal.