Schedule a pet therapy visit!
The Grace Andersen Pet Therapy program is offered through the Wolfson Children's Auxiliary.
Call 904.202.8008
Pet Therapy
More Than Just Wagging Tails
The Grace Andersen Pet Therapy program brings joy to patients at Wolfson Children's and Baptist Health. Interacting with therapy dogs and receiving unconditional love makes hospital stays less stressful and more like home. Pet visits also help to reduce anxiety and provide much-needed distraction from illness and hospitalization.
Eagerly awaiting the wagging tails that come bouncing down the hospital halls on their scheduled days, it's not surprising that the patients, families and staff become attached to the special dogs in the pet therapy program.
But pet therapy does more than elicit giggles. Dogs provide a therapeutic value to hospitalized children beyond what their human family members and our hospital team can.
Meet The Dogs!
Select a photo to open the full-sized gallery.
About Grace Andersen
Grace Andersen loved animals of all kinds, but especially dogs. She knew their power to soothe and heal and in 2015 generously funded the first therapeutic program in the Jacksonville area with the Grace Andersen Pet Therapy Endowment for Baptist Jacksonville. Her generosity provided for owners and their dogs to go through a certification course, keep the dogs up to date on vaccines, and for the purchase of necessary supplies. In April 2023, five years after her passing, the program was so successful that her son, Einar Andersen, granted permission to expand the endowment to provide coverage to Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
Interesting in volunteering?
To learn more about volunteering with our pet therapy program, call the Wolfson Children's Auxiliary at 904.202.8008.
Learn more about the Auxiliary