Stormont Vail holds "picnic with pups" to celebrate National Therapy Animal Day
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Friday is National Therapy Animal Day and Stormont Vail Hospital is celebrating its furry friends.
The hospital held a 'picnic with pups' event for its employees during the sunshine Friday afternoon.
The event was held to recognize its therapy animals and their companions for their work in bringing comfort and healing to those in need.
The therapy animals are trained to help with things like stress, burnout, and anxiety, which Director of Guest Experience & Volunteer Services Sarah Elsen said was much needed for the employees.
"Our staff has been under an immense level of stress during the pandemic in the last year, so what used to be our pet therapy teams would go visit the cancer center and pediatrics, we've been doing a lot to go around and visit our staff and give them some of that pet therapy," Elsen said.
This is a volunteer program, that people can volunteer their trained dogs for.
For more on volunteering, click here, or call 785-354-6095.