At OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, we understand the healing power of dogs and cats. Our animal-therapy services are just one way we provide complete care for your child and family.

• Our facility dog, Casey, provides comfort and promotes healing. She makes being in the hospital less scary for young patients so we can provide the best care possible.
• She plays an important role in supporting siblings and families.
• Separate animal-assisted therapy teams bring dogs and cats to visit patients at Doernbecher and other parts of OHSU.

How do animals help?

Studies show that therapy dogs can:

• Lower stress
• Distract a child from pain
• Ease a child’s fear of medical procedures
• Leave a child happier and more relaxed
• Improve communication within families
• Improve communication between family members and care providers 

At Doernbecher, therapy dogs make the hospital feel less frightening. This helps our expert doctors, nurses and other providers give children the tests and treatments they need with less stress.

What are hospital facility dogs?

Facility dogs are trained hospital therapy dogs. They respond to commands such as “snuggle” and "high-five." Casey is part of our staff, with a vest and badge. She lives with and reports to work with OHSU employees who received training and certification in animal-assisted therapy.

Our facility dogs have been provided by Assistance Dogs Northwest. 

The dogs don’t visit patients with compromised immune systems or families who prefer not to be around dogs. Handlers also follow detailed policies on cleanliness for dogs, patients and patient beds.

What are animal-assisted therapy teams?

Volunteers bring therapy-certified dogs and cats to our Marquam Hill campus and other parts of OHSU. The volunteer-and-pet teams visit patient rooms and waiting areas at Doernbecher and OHSU Hospital. 

Facility dogs are specially trained to bring joy and comfort to young patients. In patient rooms, they can lie next to a child for petting. Off-hours, Casey lives with her handlers and caretakers.

The Casey file

Handlers: Nikki Wiggins, a nurse manager in Doernbecher’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and Lyndsey Clapier,  a clinical social worker in Doernbecher’s Pediatric Intermediate Care Unit.  

Breed: Labrador-golden retriever mix 

Joined OHSU: 2022

Title: “Chief cuddling officer”

Role in therapy: Casey visits children in the hospital. She spends time with families of some of OHSU’s smallest patients, who might be in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for months. She snuggles with new parents in the Mother-Baby unit. She also offers comfort to families who have had a loss in childbirth. 

Special moments: One patient was on bed rest while pregnant with twins. After a visit from Casey, she felt a sense of calm and peace that lowered her anxiety and blood pressure. Another patient, a girl, had needed sedation for scans. Then she lay with Casey and petted and talked to her. The girl’s mom said Casey’s help meant the world to both of them.  

Quotable: Casey helps families going through a tough time. “She’s already touched so many lives in the short time that she has been at Doernbecher,” Wiggins says.  

Doernbecher began its facility dog program in 2015. Hope, the first dog to join, retired in 2022. Davis was a facility dog from 2018 to 2025.

Animal-assisted therapy teams

Volunteers  bring dogs and cats with therapy certification to visit OHSU, including Doernbecher Children's Hospital. The pets snuggle with patients and go person to person in waiting rooms.

Rob Wedlake, the Volunteer Services supervisor who oversees the program, describes one visit between a little girl in a waiting area and a new animal-assisted therapy team: Bella and her dog, Tommy. 

They went to a waiting area, where a little girl was crying. “Her mother and two providers stood with her, trying to convince her that it was time to go to her appointment,” Wedlake says. They went over, and Bella asked if Tommy could say hello. 

"The patient’s mother and the staff members nodded, and Bella sat down next to the girl and asked if Tommy could sit on her lap. A smile appeared on the girl’s face, and she began to talk to Tommy and pet his soft black fur,” Wedlake says. “Her anxiety was gone. Everyone present had smiles — along with some tears — as they witnessed the interaction between patient and animal.” 

How the program works

To  participate, pets must have a “complex” rating from Pet Partners, DoveLewis or an equivalent organization. The certification, renewed each year, ensures the pet has been trained and can handle a busy hospital.

Volunteers agree to visit OHSU at least every other week. Veteran volunteers make sure teams are a good fit before they’re added to the roster.