Dog therapy program aiming to help healthcare workers with stress of job

PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Lots of kisses and hugs from furry friends are how Perrysburg Mercy Health care providers are relieving their stress.

“I either work over in nuclear medicine or in the PET CT department, and we use radioactive materials to image, functional imaging and radiology,” Corin Peyton, who works at the hospital as a nuclear medicine technologist said.

When Peyton isn’t busy with her job, she gets a little break by spending time with an 8-year-old Sheepadoodle, who she calls her best friend at the hospital, Harry.

“I get so excited to just be able to step away for about an hour and walk them around,” Peyton said. “And I get excited to see my coworkers smile and be happy.”

A much-needed support system given a health care provider’s job includes some tough tasks, such as delivering bad news to a patient.

“You’ve built a rapport with them and you’ve tried to make them comfortable with, you know, having a difficult scan and then you see those kinds of things, so it it does weigh on you,” Peyton said.

Harry’s owner, Lee Liebetreu, said that’s exactly why she’s volunteered Harry for this job.

“These people are sometimes giving really bad news that you don’t want to have happen in your own family,” Liebetreu said. “If he brings a little bit of ease and comfort to somebody, I feel pretty good about that.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of healthcare workers reported feelings of burnout and anxiety.

“We are busy and we don’t always think to take that time to step away sometimes,” Peyton said. “We don’t even think about it, we’re just on go mode and we just keep going.”

Harry isn’t the only one in the hospital fetching for hearts.

The program, which started about a month ago, also includes five other dogs who also provide paw-sitive reinforcement.

“This is a nice breather or a nice break to take without really having to think about it,” Peyton said. “You just see them and you get excited and love on them.”

All dogs, which have been volunteered by their owners, have had previous training and work they’ve done before coming to the hospital.

“The dog teams, which were selected through a rigorous vetting process, are all certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, a national organization that certifies and supports therapy dog teams. The dogs are bathed regularly to ensure hygiene, and staff are required to wash their hands before and after interacting with them. Each department leader met with their designated therapy dog team to establish a schedule that best suits their department, ensuring the program is integrated as seamlessly as possible into their day-to-day operations,” Mercy Health said in a statement.