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Pet Therapy at Exeter Hospital

By Jennifer McGowan Community Impact Officer – Exeter Health Resources “My favorite day of the week!” Chris Hewson smiles from the reception desk as Cinnamon the 9-pound Shih Tzu confidently walks through the doors of Exeter Hospital. “All I have to say is let’s go to Exeter, and she is at the door,” Julia H., Cinnamon’s owner and a volunteer with the organization Pet Partners responds. “She looks forward to visiting the hospital every week, jumping and spinning in circles when it’s time to go.” Gentle and outgoing, Cinnamon walks the halls with confidence and loves to visit her adoring hospital friends. A year into the weekly visits, staff look forward to the break it provides. “This is my favorite part of my work day. You can practically see the energy shift in the room,” Sue Howarth, shift supervisor in the Emergency Department, shares.

Cinnamon is one of five therapy dogs who visit Exeter Hospital regularly. Visiting with a friendly pet can lower blood pressure and relieve stress, something needed more than ever during the pandemic. The visits have lasting impact. Rosanne Swanson, Patient Relations Coordinator, rounds with staff and patients throughout the hospital daily where the pet therapy visits frequently come up. “They always ask about the dogs and want me to know how much it helps. All staff, no matter what department I am visiting are impacted. It rejuvenates their spirits and that ripples throughout the organization. It’s another thing to help get people through their day during a very difficult time.”

Pet Partners volunteer Erin O’Malley has four certified dogs at home, three of which visit the health system regularly. She has three Bernese Mountain dogs ranging from 2- to 11-years-old and a one-year-old Lagotto Romagnolo, a hypoallergenic Italian water dog. Stig, a much beloved Bernese Mountain Dog weighing in at 110 pounds, settles in for long visits with patients and staff. He often leaves stuffed animals behind that look like miniature versions of himself (and maybe a little extra dog fur).

Erin began volunteering with Exeter Hospital after receiving treatment at the hospital’s Michael and Jeanne Falzone Center for Cancer Care. “It seemed like the perfect opportunity. It’s close to home, and I knew how impactful it would be to see a friendly pet while undergoing treatment.” Her dogs look forward to the visits as well, because their shift

Fenway Cinnamon

Nunzio at Hampton Health Stig

“Seeing the dogs every week, watching the love and joy the dogs bring has been so inspiring to us.”

always end with a fast food cheeseburger. Their favorite? A bacon junior cheeseburger. The pups look forward to working, but after their cheeseburger they also need a long nap to recharge.

Exeter Hospital has been working with Pet Partners for many years but expanded the program during COVID thanks to new wonderful volunteers. Kim Wess brings her English Cream Golden Retriever Fenway twice a week when she is local to the Seacoast. With his sunny personality and easy charm, Fenway shines when visiting patients young and old. He can tell when people need a little extra love and care and is happy to bond with everyone he meets. Kim began volunteering after learning about the large number of young people spending time in the Emergency Department as they await an open bed in nearby mental health organizations. Fenway and Kim have extra crisis intervention training to better serve communities during crisis and disaster.

The program has inspired at least two Exeter Hospital staff members to get pups of their own. Carol MacDonald works in the front lobby of the hospital, some days seeing hundreds of patients and visitors. She and her husband were not in the market for a pet, but after seeing Cinnamon every week she realized that a dog might be just what they needed. Barkley, a Shih Tzu / Chihuahua mix joins their family later this month. “Seeing the dogs every week, watching the love and joy the dogs bring has been so inspiring to us.”

The Pet Partners program was established in the 1990s by the Delta Society to ensure that "both ends of the leash," people as well as animals, were well-prepared to participate in animal-assisted activity and animalassisted therapy programs. The Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program requires all teams to pass a skills and aptitude evaluation every two years to remain registered as a therapy animal because behaviors change over time. ElderPet (which administers Pet Partners locally) has more than seventyfive registered teams visiting primarily in the NH Seacoast area, but also in Maine, Massachusetts and other parts of NH. If you think your pet has what it takes to be a certified therapy pet, a good place to start is the Canine Good Citizen course offered by AKC.

Exeter Hospital is so thankful to the volunteers and Pet Partners for making this program possible. The visits brighten the spirits of both staff and patients. The impact is simply extraordinary. Petpartners.org Elderpet.org

Sue with Cinnamon Fenway