Hospital hires trained comfort dog as employee to 'greet' patients; netizens are drooling

Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center has hired a pooch as a 'Justice Volunteer' to greet patients at the facility. The adorable canine named Shiloh's image was shared on Twitter by the hospital’s MD Shari Dunaway, as the dedicated pooch’s employee ID card showed that it was enrolled under the STAR program at the hospital. 

Shiloh’s photos caused an outpouring of positive comments from users who went on to share more stories about dogs serving as frontline workers amid the pandemic. A user named Thessa shared the employee card of her pooch, saying, the comfort dog was employed at a medical facility in the Philippines. Another shared a photo of a poodle wearing the protective face covering as it accompanied the hospital staff. One other poodle was seen wearing a badge of a ‘therapy’ dog. Pictures of several such adorable essential workers were shared in the comments thread on the post that amassed 60.8k likes and a slew of reactions. 

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Pooch staff reduces workload

Earlier, in a similar hiring drive, Australian hospitals employed pooches to help doctors and nurses cope with stress due to the onslaught of COVID-19 patients that pushed the facilities to their maximum limits. Commissioned by the St. John of God hospital, a popular amongst the staff pooch named Rosie was seen playing and comforting the staff amid intervals between their busy work schedule. “There’s a lot of mental health struggles that people may not feel like that they can express. So seeing a dog and talking to someone, just having a friendly chat, is actually really great,” nurse Renee Sheridan told Associated Press. Another therapy dog named Jack accompanied Rosie to the ward to make jobs for healthcare workers less tire prone. 

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