First Therapy Dog starts working in a Greek public hospital

Vangelis is a therapy dog, the first trained dog who started to “work” with patients in a public hospital in Greece. ​​His first appointment was with patient Evi Orfanou ​​at the General State Hospital of Nikaia by Piraeus. The specific hospital is the first public hospital in the country to embrace the idea of ​​a therapy dog and welcomed adorable Vangelis to patients’ rooms.

The first patient who enjoyed the therapy “skills” of Vangelis is Evi Orfanou, a patient at the Neurosurgery Clinic of the Nikaia Hospital, who fully enjoyed the benefits of this service and posted about it on social media.

“We start a new page in Greece, therapy dogs are allowed in hospitals once you invite them,” Orfanou wrote on the Facebook and introduced the first working therapy dog there.

“After seven weeks, today I smiled again,” she stressed and uploaded pictures of her new companion in the hospital room.

Together with his trainer Vangelis visits patients – adults and children – who wish to and cheers them up, providing them with comfort and emotional support. The service is free of charge.

“Therapy dogs are allowed to go to hospitals, as long as you invite them, ” Orfanou underlined.

“After seven weeks in the hospital, today I smiled again with the beneficial abilities of our four-legged friends. I hope this is just the beginning of a new era for hospitals,” Evi Orfanou characteristically wrote in her post.

Speaking to some TV magazine, Evi Orfanou appealed to all hospitals to embrace the therapy dog scheme.

She revealed that the reason for her hospitalization is an infection she suffered in her spine.

Dog therapy is a form of therapeutic intervention where specially trained dogs are used to provide emotional support, improve mental health and assist in the physical rehabilitation of individuals.

Evi Orfanou concluded her post anticipating for Vangelis’ next visit a week later.