Baptist Health Hardin is adding to its battalion of therapy dogs with a new puppy who was introduced to some employees Wednesday morning.
Her visit came as a surprise to receptionist Lisa Humphrey, who learned she won a hospital-wide naming contest for the 3-month-old black golden doodle, who will now be called Penelope, or Penny for short.
“I would go on the e-news every day and wonder, ‘What did they name this dog? ” Humphrey said of her impatience to learn the results of the contest.
Penelope will soon begin her training to become a certified therapy pet, but she got off to a good start by making her rounds to the hospital’s receptionists, who were gathered for a staff meeting when the bouncing puppy appeared.
While Humphrey, who won out of 125 submissions, had no inspiration for the name, Penelope’s owner, Baptist Health Hardin Director of Spiritual Care Jessica Jasper, said as soon as she saw the name, she remembered a song by one of her favorite bands growing up, Hanson, aptly titled “Penny and Me.
In part of the chorus, the band sings, “And Penny and me like to gaze at starry skies
Close our eyes, pretend to fly, it’s always Penny and me tonight.
Jasper was on the ground floor of bringing the pet therapy program to the hospital in 2019, when it was established with the help of the hospital’s foundation, now called the Baptist Health Foundation Hardin.
“I started the pet therapy program and we used my old dog,” Jasper said, adding that the dog was estimated to be 14 years old. “I started him because I thought if I was going to do the pet therapy program, I needed to know about it, so I went through the training with him.”
Penelope will join Jimmy as the facility’s second full-time therapy dog. Additional dogs are available upon request.
Jimmy’s effectiveness with patients was seen almost immediately, Jasper said.
“I had a patient not too long ago who was very afraid of dialysis and had panic attacks, but he absolutely loved Jimmy,” she said. “When he went in for one of his dialysis treatments, Jimmy was in the bed with him. He would pet Jimmy and snuggle with him, and it helped with his anxiety.”
But after serving for a while, Jasper said it was time for Jimmy to retire, but she knew the value of having a therapy dog in the hospital.
“I was really inspired by the Cancer Care Center,” she said. “One of the staff members got a puppy specifically for the Cancer Care Center and trained it, and now it’s the house dog.”
Jasper wanted to do the same for the patients and staff at the hospital, so Penelope came along.
Baptist Health Hardin President Robert Ramey said the program helps provide an extra level of care for patients.
“We’re always trying to take care of our patients holistically, and that means not only the physical aspects of health care, but also the emotional and spiritual aspects,” he said. “Patients are often in the hospital for long periods of time, they’re away from their family, they’re away from their pets. This pet therapy program is a way for us to help patients not focus so much on being in the hospital, but it allows them to really have a moment to forget about that and think more about the healing process and just bring a little bit of joy into their day.”
There is also an obvious benefit for the hospital staff, Ramey said.
“Our staff works long hours and difficult shifts, so anytime we can bring a little respite into their day with a visit from one of our therapy animals, the smiles on their faces are just wonderful,” he said.
The dog can help reduce stress for employees and help them process the trauma they deal with on the job, Jasper said.
“With our staff, we do hard things every day,” she said. “Our normal day is someone’s worst day of their life, and that can really wear a person down. So bringing in a dog is a distraction, it brings up conversations. We have staff who don’t want to talk about the trauma they’ve seen, but the dog warms them up enough.
“It opens the door,” she added. “We see so much pain, it’s nice to see the happy.”
