Purina Family Pet Center in St. Louis Children’s Hospital #LetsLiveBig

This post and my attendance at Better With Pets were  sponsored by Purina. All opinions and statements are my own. The Tiniest Tiger only shares information that we think will be of interest to you.

Better With Pets  #LetsLiveBig

Last week I was fortunate to be invited to attend the Better With Pets Summit in Brooklyn. Even though this was not my first Better With Pets Summit, I look forward to and consider this one of the best events of the year. Being surrounded by people that love their pets like we do, creates positive energy.  You can feel the passion for all the cat and dog lovers. And knowing that those in attendance  work diligently every single day trying to make our pets live longer and stronger is a great feeling.  Every year we learn of the breakthroughs in science and research that backs up what we all feel in our hearts. That our own lives are better with pets.  Sharing our lives with our little family members enriches our life beyond measure.

How Passion for Pets Builds a Better World

One of the sessions at this year’s summit was a discussion about how the emotional support our pets provide helps us in all areas of our lives. By connecting pets and people we can build stronger communities and shape a better world. Roben Harris opened the session on How Passion for Pets Builds a Better World by telling us the story of the therapeutic friendship between her daughter, born with Spina Bifida, and her best buddy, a Labradoodle named Chocolate Chip Chewbacca Harris.

Roben spoke about the importance of her daughter being able to visit with her beloved dog even while being hospitalized, but more often than not, pet visits are not permitted in hospitals.  But in St. Louis Children’s Hospital became the first center of its kind in the region and the fourth in the world to do something about it.

“Our doctors see every day the importance of medicine and world class technology,” says Jill Malan, manager of Child Life Services at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “We see every day the impact a child’s emotional wellbeing has on their overall recovery.”

With Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and others as examples, Malan proposed the idea of a room at the hospital which could facilitate visits between patients and their cats and dogs.  Research  shows that spending time with pets can reduce pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue in people with a wide range of health issues, and those staying in long-term care facilities.

“As soon as she suggested it, I knew we had to make it happen,” says Larry Vancil, director of facility services at Children’s.

Vancil approached the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation; the Foundation contacted Purina, and Purina instantly came on board with the idea. Purina enthusiastically agreed to support the construction and staffing of the center with a gift of $450,000. The Purina Family Pet Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital officially opened with a ribbon tugging, led by a Golden Retriever-Labrador mix named “Happy Jack” earlier this year.

The Purina Family Pet Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital

The Purina Family Pet Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital gives patients the opportunity to see their pets without leaving the building, their doctors or the technology on which so many of them rely.

The Purina Family Pet Center was built at the west end of the 2^nd floor hallway adjacent to the patient drop-off area in the parking garage. Combining the hospital’s focus on family-centered care with the understanding of the healing power of the human-animal bond is the basis behind this new program.

The goals of the Family Pet Center:

• Create a comfortable, safe and welcoming environment where patients and their families can reunite with the family pet while the child is in the hospital undergoing treatment.
• To bring joy and overall emotional well-being to children and their families through the therapeutic impact of personal pet interaction.

 

“At Purina we believe that pets and people are better together, and our friends at St. Louis Children’s Hospital clearly share our belief,” said Nina Leigh Krueger, Purina president. “Our goal for the Purina Family Pet Center is to bring joy and comfort to children and their families by helping them reunite with their pets during their stay.”

“We are so grateful to have received this gift,” says Flip Becker, senior director with the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation. “I know what a difference this will make in the lives of our patients – a difference only made possible through the generous support of Purina.”

At the end of this session, highlighted by the personal accounts of how The Purina Family Pet Center is making a difference in the lives of children at the hospital, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room. Thank you to Purina for helping make lives Better With Pets.