10th Anniversary of Animal Assisted Therapy at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and Advocate Children's Hospital - Park Ridge celebrated the 10th anniversary of animal assisted therapy on Wednesday, October 26, 2016.

The hospital has 30 wonderful dogs who visit 11 different hospital units and departments offering bedside, group or goal-oriented therapy visits. They partner with two wonderful organizations providing these amazing therapy dogs: Rainbow Animal Assisted Therapy and Canine Therapy Corps. Each handler and their dog are hospital volunteers and proudly wear hospital ID badges.

Today's celebration started with a welcome from the hospital president, Rick Floyd, followed by an invocation by Kevin Massey, VP, Mission and Spiritual Care, and lunch, delicious cake, doggie ice cream for the four-legged volunteers and fun games that included guessing the number of treats in a jar or the longest kiss a dog gives to his handler. Special tribute was paid to the therapy dogs who have recently passed away. Each dog owner received a certificate naming a star in their dog's honor. The event ended with a grab bag activity where each dog picked their own present. Everyone also received a beautiful picture frame. There were some Cubs fans there, too!

The celebration was hosted by the hospital Volunteer Services department.