Four-legged hospital visitors

A recent piece in the New York Times discusses pet visitation in hospitals. This is different than pet therapy programs in which trained animals visit multiple patients. In this case, pets visit their hospitalized owners. Some hospitals allow this, believing that the benefit to the patient outweighs the infection control concerns. I have heard many wonderful and powerful stories from my wife, a palliative care physician, on the impact of pet visitation for her patients who are at the end of life.  Two of the hospitals noted in the article are near and dear to us--the University of Iowa Hospitals and Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.

Painting: A Strong Warm Hug by Diana Roberts