A Special Howl-o-Ween Treat for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Patients

ATLANTA, Ga. – While most kids are looking forward to getting dressed up and trick-or-treating tonight, many patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will be spending Halloween in the hospital, where they are receiving life-saving treatments.

To bring some joy and smiles to these patients, Children’s held a facility dog costume parade where 10 of the hospital system’s facility dogs dressed in their best Halloween costumes and paraded through all of the floors of Arthur M. Blank Hospital. They greeted patients in their doorways, and their handlers even gave out stickers and small toys.

Children’s was the first hospital system in the country to implement a facility dog program, with the start of the Canines for Kids  program and the introduction of its first facility dog in 2009. These specially trained dogs work alongside their handlers, who are Children’s employees to provide comfort, support and distraction to patients.