Assuring the wellbeing of every person — and animal — at our hospitals

Wendy Sultzman is the ADA coordinator for UCHealth hospitals in northern Colorado. She is also an animal lover with three dogs of her own. Where ever she goes, her dogs go. Their safety and happiness are paramount to her.

So when Sultzman realized that the emergency department was challenged with patients anxious about the care of their pets who had accompanied them to a hospital campus, she teamed up with Stephanie Price, regional administrative assistant for emergency services. They took initiative to find a solution for temporary housing and caring for animals while the pets awaited pick-up by friends or family members, or by an animal protection agency.

It was an idea bolstered by UCHealth’s patient pillars: Know me, guide me, educate me, support me.

“We have patients come to the hospital, brought by an ER situation, and they have their animals with them,” Sultzman said. “I started thinking about what it looks like. For example, a patient who’s had a stroke and has their dog with them, how can we calm their fears and anxiety about their dog being safe so that they can relax and get the diagnostic testing and care they need in the hospital?”

With her colleagues on board and the backing of emergency department leaders, Sultzman and Price began a project to provide kennels to Poudre Valley Hospital, Medical Center of the Rockies and Greeley Hospital. They created a log process to track an animal’s placement, a system for recording its care timeline, and a process within the EDs to make sure the animal’s well-being was being attended to during the stay.

Their efforts have not only brought relief to patients at the hospital but also prevented them from delaying necessary care, said Amanda Miller, nurse manager for the emergency department at Poudre Valley Hospital.

“I had a patient call recently saying they really needed some medical care but didn’t have anywhere for their dog to stay,” Miller recalled. “They were so relieved when I told them we could make sure their dog was cared for and safe while she got the care she needed. The patient checked in and got the care she’d been putting off.”

There also is the occasional unique situation that has proven the program’s worthiness.

“We had a goat follow a man in the middle of the night into the ED,” Miller said. “We were able to keep her (the goat) until the humane society could come the next day.”

In the meantime, Price found classical music helped calm the goat, who was quite vocal about his temporary housing.

As the ADA coordinator, it’s Sultzman’s responsibility to make sure hospitals accommodate service animals, but hospitals are not required to care for them, or any accompanying pet, while patients receive care.

It’s Sultzman and Price’s love for animals and their empathy for patients that drove them to make sure patients know that their well-being — and their pet’s — will not be overlooked at UCHealth.