BALTIMORE, Md. — Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday's dog took center stage at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital Thursday to showcase a pet therapy program.
Jackson Holliday's dog helps showcase hospital's pet therapy program
Holliday, his wife Chloe, and their bernedoodle Coconut visited the hospital to highlight the Pets on Wheels program, which is used at the four MedStar hospitals in Baltimore.
The event focused on showing the impact pet therapy has on patients and their recovery processes.
The nearly 45-year-old program focuses on bringing therapy pets to hospitals, nursing homes, and schools to help improve people's lives.
Program director Cathy Mazzotta said that when the organization was founded, they discovered that after interacting with the animals, patients' heart rate and blood pressure decreased, and they seemed calmer.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctor Jennifer Olsen said one of the goals of the rehab process is to help patients get back to living and that pets are a big part of that.
"I think in most cases it just gives them [patients] a mental break too," Olsen said. "They're so in their head about it [recovery] that being able to take 5 minutes to interact with the dog, talk with the handlers, and be able to just spend a few minutes doing something that's comforting helps them to re-center a little bit and be able to continue on with their recovery."
Coconut received an honorary pet therapy certification at the event after completing a series of tests to assess his obedience and reaction skills.
Afterwards, the Holliday family announced that for every home run the orioles make they will donate $500 to the pet therapy program.
"We're really excited about what the future holds, and hopefully this can make a little bit of an impact in the community and bring joy to people," Holliday said.
