A four legged furry friend is joining Butler Memorial Hospital’s oncology department to help those battling cancer.
A new therapy dog will be coming soon to hospital. Stacy Meyer is a social worker at the hospital and will serve as the handler for the new dog.
“Our little friend is going to live at my home, and he’ll go to work with me everyday. The dog will meet and greet our patients at radiation as well as medical oncology,” Meyer said.
Meyer said the idea for the hospital to have a therapy dog started after golf outing for a recently passed away patient named John Hanna.
“John Hanna’s wife said ‘Stacy, what if we get a therapy dog for the cancer center?’ And I thought that sounded amazing,” Meyer said.
The hospital’s foundation helped with the funds to purchase the dog, who will be named either Henry or Henrietta in honor of the late Dr. Henry Sinapoli, who passed away earlier this year.
“Henry was such an important person in my career. He came to our cancer support group regularly. He not only came as a cancer survivor, but he also loved to teach,” Meyer said.
Meyer said that it’s unknown whether or not the golden-doodle will be a boy or girl, so that’s why it’s name isn’t official yet. The dog is expected to arrive later this month.
