She may walk on four legs and get rewarded in treats and love, but Addy the therapy dog is one of Mon Health’s most popular volunteers.
“Animals just bring a lot of joy, a lot of love and kind of take the troubles away for a little while,” said Ellison Ponzurick, Mon Health Oncology Director and Addy’s owner.
Once a week, after her normal work day, you will find Ellison and Addy walking side-by side, ready to visit patients.
“When you get to talk to the patients and you talk to them about their animals and you know what they’re doing and what they have, they just kind of glow with their experiences,” Ponzurick said. “It lets them express a little bit, lets them take a little bit of control of the situation. I think it’s kind of fun. I enjoy hearing the stories.”
In order to make Addy volunteer ready, she had to take obedience classes, a pet-therapy class and a K-9 good citizenship class, all under the guidance of Ponzurick, who saw first hand through her work and personal life how much a pet can help a patient.
“My husband had lung cancer and during that period of time we had a cat,” she said. “We knew the joy that the cat was able to bring him and he hated cats before that. There was a sensitivity they had.”
“Well it really does pick up your spirits and stuff, cause it gets lonesome when you’re here by yourself,” said patient Lila Bosley, who got a special visit from Addy.
That one visit not only provides happiness and comfort, but in some cases a reminder of home.
“It was nice to have some puppy love,” said patient Charlene Regis. “All my kids have dogs. They come visit me every Sunday. I have a whole house full on Sundays, so this made it very nice.”
Addy is not just loved by patients; she’s helped the staff too.
“I think it’s really important to provide emotional support for the staff,” Ponzurick said. “We have a wonderful staff here. I can’t say enough about the care they give. On some of the floors these nurses are getting very close. These people are becoming part of family, and when their family’s hurting, they’re hurting.”
“When she rounds that corner on Thursday afternoons, you can just see our whole unit light up,” said Leah Bowen, a registered nurse on the Cardiac Step Down Unit. “Being in this field of work you have good days and bad days. Patients have ups and downs in their hospital stay um and it can really just change their day.”
Ponzurick said she would like to see the pet therapy program expand, connecting more patients with more dogs.
“When I come on Thursdays I’ve already put in a full day, but there’s something about just the liveliness of the staff and seeing the smiles on their faces and that makes it all worthwhile,” said Ponzurick.