Linda the dog trains at Harborview for career as helper

Linda with trainer Cheryl Grant and Matthew West. Photo by Jordan Rehm

“Throw the ball as hard as you can so she gets a workout, too,” suggests Cheryl Grant. “Fetch it, Linda!”

Beth, a rehabilitation-medicine patient, flings the ball across the gym. After a moment’s hesitation, Linda, a year-old golden retriever, scampers after it, then returns and drops the ball at Beth’s feet. For Beth, who has acute respiratory distress syndrome, time spent with Linda is a treat—and an important part of her recovery from a debilitating illness.

“When I first started rehab, I couldn’t get out of bed by myself,” she explains. “It took a nurse and a therapist to help me sit up. Now I can walk.” This is an important achievement for Beth, who will be returning home the next day after two months on a ventilator and a month of rehab.

Linda plays a role in the therapy of several patients on Harborview Medical Center’s rehabilitation medicine inpatient unit. In training to be a full-time service dog for a disabled person living at home, she comes to Harborview twice a week. With Grant’s guidance, the dog helps patients with balance and strengthening activities. Beth and Linda play tug of war with a towel, Beth bends to pick up the ball after Linda has retrieved the throw, and Beth takes Linda for walks in the hospital in search of a latte.

Grant, an occupational therapist, is part of the multi-disciplinary rehab-medicine team that includes physicians, nurses, physical and speech therapists, psychologists, social workers, nutritionists, and vocational rehabilitation specialists. The team concept is a key element in the practice of rehabilitation medicine at Harborview.

Linda is the fifth dog that Grant has brought to Harborview for training, and the new program has been both successful and popular with patients. Seeing a series of patients working and playing with Linda, it’s clear that the dog provides emotional comfort as well as a means of therapy. “She puts a smile on people’s faces,” Grant explains.

“Linda doesn’t care if you’re in a wheelchair,” says Cindi, the survivor of a helicopter crash. “She’s just happy to get the attention.” It’s Cindi’s first day of therapy with the dog, and she’s excited to begin this new phase of her recovery. Linda helps her feel more connected to the outside world after two months of hospitalization, says Cindi, who still faces another month of rehabilitation.

The gym that Linda and the patients work and play in is part of the new inpatient rehabilitation-medicine unit that opened at Harborview in March 1997. The unit incorporates some of the latest design concepts to help patients progress toward independent living. It’s an environment that befits the nationally recognized work being done at Harborview with patients who are recovering from severe injury and illness.

The 16 private and five double patient rooms are accessible for any type of power wheelchair, corridors are wide, and there’s enough storage space for all battery-powered equipment to be recharged when not in use. Patients now eat communally in a pleasant dining room, and meal times offer an opportunity for patients and their families to interact and support each other. The gym is large and well-equipped, enabling physical and occupational therapists to work in the same area.

“This new unit makes it much easier for all of us to communicate and collaborate,” Grant explains. “The staff are really happy having a place like this to work in, and having a nice environment has to help in our patients’ recoveries.” ¶

Larry Zalin, Harborview