Pet therapy helping families cope during hospital stays

TOMBALL, TX -- Many people have experienced the love and happiness that having pets around can bring. Being in a hospital, that access is limited and patients sometime s need something to cheer them up in such a trying time.

Tomball Regional Medical Center recently began using pet therapy as a means for patients to better deal with their current circumstances and to bring a positive feeling to the hospital environment.

Chief Nursing Officer Sharon Ikeler came to TRMC in September of 2014 and shared new ideas of how to better serve patients. The idea of pet therapy came from her own familiarity with such a program when she endured a traumatic event with her family.

Read more from the Potpourri, a Houston Community Newspaper partner