PetSmart Charities

Puppy Love: PETSMART CHARITIES’ FURRY FRIENDS BRING HOPE TO YOUNG PATIENTS

As the most comprehensive children’s hospital between Atlanta and Washington D.C., Atrium Health Levine Children’s takes pride in delivering exceptional family-centered and patient-focused care. With support from PetSmart Charities, the hospital’s Inpatient Therapy division and Volunteer Services have collaborated to pilot a patient program that will bring patients a new form of comfort and therapeutic support.

Thanks to a PetSmart Charities grant award for $80,000, Atrium Health Levine Children's is launching Happy 2 Heal, a new Animal Assisted Therapy and Visitation Program for pediatric patients and their family members. Accompanied by a licensed physical therapist, Happy 2 Heal service dogs and their handlers will provide therapeutic interventions across all areas of inpatient care. The pilot program will help to identify the areas of greatest benefit to patients’ mental, emotional, and psycho-social wellbeing, such as pain management, anxiety reduction, and physical rehabilitation.

To support Happy 2 Heal contact Tara Jensen, MS, OTR/L, Clinical Coordinator of Pediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation at Levine Children's Hospital, at Tara.Jensen@atriumhealth.org.