There’s a unique employee at a local healthcare clinic, and he’s proving popular with patients.
Hank is not EXACTLY an employee, but he’s proving his worth.
The golden retriever lab mix has been working as a facility dog at a Mercy outpatient clinic on S. Fremont in Springfield alongside his handler and occupational therapist Tricia Holt since 2021.
Holt began her journey as a handler while working at a hospital and witnessing a dog helping a patient. After transitioning to an outpatient setting where working with a dog was much more practical, she applied for an animal of her own.
“Having seen another dog in action got me very intrigued about how you could motivate and help patients in the work,” Holt recalled.
Facility dogs like Hank are bred and trained at Canine Companions, a Santa Rosa, California-based organization, which has placed over 8,500 liters since its founding in 1975 at no cost to clients. Hank was placed in the H litter, hence his name.
The dogs begin training at eight weeks old, and later they’ll either pass or fail. Not all dogs make the cut after training and are released from the program, like Hank's brother Hartley who stays at home as Holt's pet dog. If a dog passes, it’s placed into one of three classifications: Service dog, companion or facility.
Service dogs are placed with people with disabilities; companion dogs are akin to emotional support animals; and facility dogs are placed with someone who doesn’t have a disability for use in healthcare, school and law enforcement settings.
“All of the dogs know all of the same commands. It's just a matter of what their personalities were more gifted toward, and Hank had more of an aptitude for social interaction, and he's less brisk with important commands that somebody with a disability would need in a service dog. So that's how he got placed with me. They're really good at determining what a dog is gifted for.” Holt said.
Hank knows over 40 commands and assists patients in a variety of ways. Patients brush him, which helps increase hand strength and motion. He can also help a person with balance. Holt says patients who want to return to caring for their own pet or are thinking of adopting one will work with Hank, doing things like putting on his collar and taking him for a walk.
In one case, a man who worked with Hank on balance was considering getting a dog. Since Hank has such a calm demeanor, the patient could practice things like using the dremel to trim Hank’s nails.
“It depends on the patient really. For some, he's simply there for the motivation and the comfort. He helps them to relax. Others, they make use of the commands that he knows,” Holt said.
Research reveals that therapy dogs used in healthcare settings significantly reduce patients’ heart rate and blood pressure. Just the presence of a dog can ease stress. And it can motivate patients to try harder. Holt shared the story of a retired baseball player who began tossing the ball back and forth to Hank.
“It's much more motivating to work with the dog than it is to just chain paperclips. Much more functional too. It's more you get to retain more dignity.” Holt said. “A lot of times we'll see people move better even…We've seen people walk farther with Hank than they would walk with one of us. We've seen people work harder, do more repetitions of exercise. We've seen better recovery with Hank.”
“My favorite part is to watch people get better. I love to see people get back to their lives that have gotten injured. And I think Hank's favorite part are the kids. He likes working with the kids and older folks. It's like one extreme or the other.”
Outside of regular work hours, Holt likes to take Hank to different community outreach events and visit the Parkinson's group of the Ozarks and the Willard Care Center. Holt and Hank visited the pediatric floors at Mercy in March to celebrate Child Life Month.
On weekends, Hank has the chance to be a regular dog. He, his brother and Holt live in a home in the country with some land where they enjoy going outdoors and gardening. They also like to hike and spend time at the lake.
Hank recently turned seven, but Holt says she has no plans to retire him anytime soon.
