Partners and Paws

Facility Partner SPOTLIGHT!

Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital helps some 700 patients a year in their recovery from stroke, brain injury, orthopedic trauma, spinal cord injury, amputation and many other conditions. We have a special relationship with Riverside. In 2011, our very first facility dog, Ekko was placed there. From this partnership, not only did Ekko assist in the therapies of over 4,000 patients, but it opened a door for us at Saint Francis to see how a

Ada

Thanks to a generous grant from Newport News Shipbuilding’s Corporate Citizenship program, our partnership with Riverside will continue. This grant has allowed us to train and place a new facility dog at Riverside named Ada. Gary Artybridge, manager of community relations for Newport News Shipbuilding said, “This grant will help make life-changing impacts on local residents facing severe health challenges.”

working dog could be incorpo- rated into the life of a variety of facilities. We have since placed five more facility dogs, who have impacted the lives of thousands of individuals.

Thanks to this support, Ada and her handler Wendy, along with a team of therapists are in the process of in-facility training. Once certified, Ada will assist in individual and group therapy, participate in speech therapy by allowing patients to verbalize commands, and help in physical therapy, where patients will re-gain strength and coordination through play and task work. We are so excited to see Ekko’s legacy live on in Ada, no doubt touching thousands of lives along the way.

Ekko

We are all still mourning Ekko’s passing in 2018. Daniel Ballin, CEO and Administrator of Riverside Rehabilitation Hospital said of Ekko, “The impact she had is difficult to overstate. She helped thousands of patients along on their journey, she provided emotional support, motivation, humor, and made therapy full and meaningful. She became a part of our rehab family.” In a rehabilitation setting, patient morale and motivation in their recovery after injury or illness can be challenging. The staff members at Riverside saw Ekko help bridge the gaps for patients who did not otherwise respond to hospital staff and made therapy complete for all patients.

Thank you Newport New Shipbuilding for making this partnership possible.

Wendy, Ada and Sara

11