Flexjet is expanding its longstanding relationship with University Hospitals (UH) in Ohio by supporting the Pet Pals programme. The company recently transported a team of dogs and their handlers from their 14 month training programme at Canine Assistants in Atlanta, Georgia, to long-term assignments at UH Cleveland Medical Center where they will comfort children and adults undergoing stressful medical treatments.

There are only 150 facility dogs with this specialised training working at hospitals across the US. With the addition of the two Golden Retrievers - Loki, a one-year-old male and Natasha, a one-year-old female - UH will now offer four facility dogs at various locations throughout its UH Cleveland Medical Center main campus. These special dogs live with hospital staff, often a doctor or a nurse, and will work a 40-hour week alongside them. They are typically Golden Retrievers, Labradors or Goldendoodles, and work in paediatric haematology/oncology at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and the Breen Breast Health Facility at UH Seidman Cancer Center.

Loki, who will work in Volunteer Services, and Natasha, who will be in the UH Rainbow paediatric intensive care unit, and their handlers arrived at Cuyahoga County airport east of downtown Cleveland onboard a Flexjet Praetor 500 midsized jet. They were greeted by their new families and taken to their new homes.

“We consider it an honour to fly these Pet Pals and their handlers to their new homes here in Cleveland, Ohio, while also expanding our partnership with University Hospitals,” says Flexjet CEO Michael J Silvestro. “Our aircraft owners frequently fly with their pets and consider them members of their families, so we know just what to do to keep our canine and feline guests as comfortable and cared for as possible. I see it firsthand every time I travel with our dogs.”

UH Pet Pals programme coordinator Diane Pekarek says: “When a patient comes to the hospital, it is at a time of intense stress and worry. However, when they see a facility dog or pet therapy animal, their faces and their demeanour change. Their cares ease. No matter how sick patients are, they always want a pet pal to visit them.”