Labor of Love

Tilly, a six-year-old female Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, snuggles up to patient Claire Mozara in UTMB’s newly expanded, fifty-two bed Acute Care for the Elders (ACE) Unit. Tilly was recruited to assist the staff in encouraging patients to be more active—partly based on studies suggesting that domestic animals may calm and otherwise promote the health of older people. Since last spring, Tilly (full name: Lovejoy Chantilly) has been helping to promote a cozy, home-like atmosphere on the innovative and award-winning geriatric unit. She works eight-to-five, more or less, Monday through Friday. Patient visits are her forte, although to the envy of some other workers she reportedly sleeps—and even snores—through staff meetings. While she labors only for hugs and pats and the occasional dog biscuit instead of money (she also gets free shampoos and subsidized health care), like other UTMB employees she comes with appropriate credentials: the American Kennel Club’s “Good Citizen” certification and official recognition as a “Therapy Dog” by Therapy Dogs International, as well as a doggie diploma from the Rover Oaks Training School in Houston. Tilly takes off evenings and weekends and spends them with her foster family in Fish Village, a.k.a. the Lindale Addition, not far from UTMB. Grants from the Sealy & Smith Foundation made possible both the initial construction of the ACE Unit and the recent expansion.