Therapy Dog Stress Break Brings Wagging Tails and Smiling Faces to Lexington Medical Center
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February 14, 2024
West Columbia, S.C. – Today, Lexington Medical Center hosted its annual therapy dog stress break where visitors and staff members enjoyed time with furry friends because studies show a canine companion can help with everything from lowering blood pressure to reducing stress.
According to the American Heart Association, dog owners are 31% less likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than non-dog owners.
Find additional photos of the event for download linked here.
According to the American Heart Association, pet ownership, particularly dog ownership, may help reduce a person’s risk for cardiovascular disease:
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Studies have found that pet owners have lower blood pressure and resting heart rates than people who do not have a pet, even when they had a similar body mass index (BMI) and socioeconomic profile.
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People with prior heart events who had a dog living at home had a 65% reduced risk of death.
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Pet ownership is an important form of social support that can benefit patients with heart disease or stroke.
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When we see, touch, hear or talk to companion animals, we feel goodwill, joy, nurturing, and happiness. At the same time, stress hormones are suppressed.
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Additional research has found that pets lower stress and help heart patients live longer.
Each of the dogs participating in the event is a certified therapy dog that visits patients at Lexington Medical Center’s main campus in West Columbia and Extended Care, the hospital’s skilled nursing facility in Lexington. They are a popular and important part of Lexington Medical Center’s Volunteer Services department.
Lexington Medical Center is a 607-bed teaching hospital in West Columbia, South Carolina. It anchors a health care network that includes five community medical centers and employs a staff of more than 8,000 health care professionals. The hospital is ranked best hospital in the Columbia Metro and #2 hospital in South Carolina by U.S. News & World Report and was named one of the “Best Places to Work in South Carolina” by SC Biz News, in partnership with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and Best Companies Group. Lexington Medical Cancer Center is an accredited Cancer Center of Excellence and has a clinical research and education affiliation with MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. The network includes a cardiovascular program recognized by the American College of Cardiology as South Carolina's first HeartCARE Center. The network also has an occupational health center, the largest skilled nursing facility in the Carolinas, an Alzheimer's care center and more than 70 physician practices. Lexington Medical Center operates one of the busiest Emergency departments in South Carolina, treating nearly 100,000 patients each year. The hospital delivers more than 4,000 babies each year and performs more than 25,000 surgeries. Its postgraduate medical education programs include family medicine and transitional year residencies.
