March 5, 2025
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Buckeye Paws, the therapy dog program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, is celebrating its 5th anniversary on Thursday. Media are invited to cover the two celebration events from:
- 9-10:30 a.m. at Ohio State East Hospital, 181 Taylor Ave. in Columbus on the ground floor. Parking for media is available in the visitor lot across from the hospital entrance.
- 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Ross Heart Hospital, 452 W. 10th Ave. in Columbus in auditorium lobby on the first floor. Parking for media is available in the Safe Auto Parking Garage, 1585 Westpark Street, Columbus.
The mission of Buckeye Paws is to promote the mental and emotional health of staff, faculty, trainees and students at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and The Ohio State University by providing support and comfort with highly trained, certified therapy dog-handler teams.Buckeye Paws started on March 6, 2020, for Wexner Medical Center employees. On March 7, 2022, the program expanded to provide certified therapy dog assistance to the staff, faculty and students across the university.
Each of the 30 therapy dogs has been evaluated and is trained on a quarterly basis with the Buckeye Paws Master K9 Trainer. Dog-handler teams must be First Response K9 certified and Canine Good Citizen certified. Another 20 dog-handler teams are in the onboarding process to join Buckeye Paws.
Since it’s inception, Buckeye Paws teams have completed 5,429 visits across campus and in the community.
Last year, a study by researchers at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, College of Medicine and College of Nursing proved the mood-boosting benefits of Buckeye Paws. The pilot study found that self-reported positive mood nearly doubled among the health care workers who engaged with the volunteer dog-handler teams.
Media must contact Eileen Scahill at Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu to make arrangements to attend.
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Media Contact: Eileen Scahill, Wexner Medical Center media relations, Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu