Therapy dog has patients on their feet at Gill Heart Institute

May 31, 2016

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Patients at the University of Kentucky Gill Heart Institute are reaping health benefits from a four-legged and furry therapist.

Carmine, an 85-pound English Labrador Retriever, is a therapy dog with a singular assignment: get patients up and walking.

Carmine came to the Gill Heart Institute in February to drive home the institute’s point of view that cardiovascular patients should get moving as soon as possible after their treatment.

As Transitions of Care Coordinator for the Gill, Katelyn King is Carmine’s handler when he’s on the unit. She traveled to Michigan last November to work directly with Carmine so that they’d be ready to go as soon as he arrived in Lexington.

“We’ve spent a lot of time as a unit asking ourselves how we might improve a patient’s transition from the hospital to home, since that tends to be the most fragile time for patients who are trying to learn a whole new lifestyle,” says Transitions of Care Coordinator for the Gill, Katelyn King. “If we could get them thinking about heart health before they even leave the hospital, it gives them a head start on their recovery.”

Part of that recovery begins almost as soon as patients are admitted to the hospital, since the unit philosophy is to walk every patient, every day – regardless of how sick they are.

Every day, a swarm of men and women in black and teal scrubs knock on the doors of each patient room on the 8th floor and help them out of bed and down the hall, whether they had surgery a week ago or yesterday. Carmine often provides the incentive patients need to get up and go.

Carmine is on duty every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. On his off days, Carmine gets to be a regular dog, sacking out at the home of Dr. Susan Smyth, co-director of the Gill Heart Institute, and her family.

“Carmine is very spoiled by my boys and gets to behave like a family pet,” Smyth said. “Our cat rules the roost, though, and now has Carmine well trained – but that took a while.”

As Carmine walks the unit it’s clear he’s a popular attraction. Staff and families roaming the halls stop to say hello and pat Carmine’s massive, blocky head. His first order of business: licking the shoes of everyone who greets him.