Connect

This is the latest installment in our Connect article series “Hope at Work” — showcasing inspiring stories about how our team members contribute to UVA Health’s 10-year Strategic Plan: “One Future Together Health and Hope for All.”

No matter where you work, you have an opportunity to inspire hope in others. These stories show how:

Joy Hilton Early wears two hats at UVA Health. 

One: at UVA School of Medicine, where she's served for more than 14 years as the Director of Education for the Department of Medicine — managing educational administrators and coordinators for the department's graduate and undergraduate medical education programs. 

The other hat: Joy, along with her three-and-a-half-year-old English Labrador retriever, Hank, are weekly Pet Therapy Program volunteers at UVA Health. 

Last year, 26 pet therapy teams served more than 600 hours — volunteering at UVA Breast Care Center, UVA Children’s, and University Medical Center. Therapy dogs are vetted through approved organizations, then handlers apply and interview with Hannah Kaufman, Volunteer Services Coordinator at UVA Health. “The Pet Therapy Program is one way we can provide comfort to patients who are here maybe just for the day, or for a longer stay," she explains.

Hank the Helper 

In 2020, when Joy brought Hank home when he was just eight weeks old, she wasn’t intending to raise a therapy dog — Hank was Joy’s pandemic puppy.  

Joy knew Hank was going to be a big dog, and she wanted to ensure he was well behaved, especially around Joy and her husband Stephen’s eight grandchildren.  

So Joy and Hank began basic obedience and socialization classes when Hank was six months old. Joy and the trainer discussed their goals for Hank, and the trainer asked if Joy had considered enrolling Hank in therapy dog training. Joy had some neighbors and friends who had trained therapy dogs, and she was intrigued by the idea of Hank the Helper.

Together, Hank and Joy practiced signs, stopping on command, and walking on a leash while approaching other people and dogs. Basic commands — including sit, stay, and wait — also were part of the curriculum.  

After completing about a year of therapy dog training, Hank and Joy were ready to get to work.  

Equal Playing Field 

Every Tuesday for more than two years, Joy and Hank have walked their regular route from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to the Battle Building. Joy’s stepdaughter is a former NICU nurse and nurse manager — and Joy's husband, Steve Early, MD, is a retired pediatric otolaryngologist at UVA Health —so Joy is familiar with the stress NICU team members can endure.  

Once the dynamic duo arrives, the NICU receptionist announces Hank’s arrival, and team members rush to get their weekly dose of Hank.

“This is the best part of my day!” one of them exclaims.  

While recently rounding, Joy and Hank meet a mother in the NICU. Her newborn daughter will remain in the hospital for a couple of months, and the woman says she's missing her two big dogs at home. She hangs out and loves on Hank for nearly 20 minutes.  “I just really needed this,” she tells Joy.  

After they wrap up in the NICU, Joy and Hank are off to the Battle Building. Hank loves kids, and kids love Hank!

“When people see a dog, it just changes their whole demeanor in that moment. With patients or family of patients, they’ll tell me about their dog. It puts everyone on an equal playing field,” Joy observes.  

In addition to volunteering at University Medical Center, Joy and Hank also spend time with UVA School of Medicine students and graduate medical education trainees.  

'Do Good at Work' 

Joy recently assigned her work team the task of reading "Do Good At Work: How Simple Acts of Social Purpose Drive Success and Wellbeing." The book conveys the importance of weaving acts of social purpose into your professional role. Joy hopes it will help her team members learn to connect what they do on a day-to-day basis to the larger mission of UVA Health.  

Joy reflects on realizing her social purpose when she volunteers with Hank: “The minute I bring Hank into the hospital and put on my green volunteer apron, I am no longer a director. I am just a volunteer who can make people smile, and sometimes see people cry. And I know that I am contributing in a different kind of way.”  

To request a pet therapy visit for a patient or team, contact Volunteer Services Office at 434-924-5251 or volunteerservices@uvahealth.org.