For the first time in her beautiful life, Zinnia has been rejected (me too.) Today, we were booted out of the Saratoga Hospital for failing to adhere to some of the rules.
I like to say Zinnia has had a charmed life; she is, after all, a Wasp Princess from a privileged life. I have been thrown out of many places, but for Zinnia, today was a first.
We were shown the door.
I think maybe I’m just a country boy now, where being known matters and rules are bent to fit the person and the day.
We went to the hospital to thank the nursing staff for their excellent care of Susan, our friend who died last night. They were kind to me, but they loved Zinnia.
It was mutual.
She got the usual hugs and even some treats (which I don’t encourage or usually allow.)
We had a lot of fun talking laughing while the nursing supervisor took out a massive sack of biscuits and fed them to Zinnia until I stopped her. Zinnia was in love instantly.
The nurses and staff at the hospital love her; we made several stops every night to visit nurses in several different wards; they beg me to come back with her.
Zinnia lights them up in their tense work and long hours.
That’s what a good therapy dog does.
I have a long history of running afoul of bureaucracies, and that’s what happened today. As we walked onto a floor, we have been visiting for nearly two weeks; a hospital administrator stepped in front of me with arms outstretched and a glower that could cut steel.
You can’t be here, she said, when you’ve visited the patient, you came to see you have to leave. For emphasis, she stepped in front of me, as if I was about to make a run for it.
I mumbled something about my having applied to the Volunteer office, but I was on thin ice and getting nowhere.
Zinnia wasn’t wearing her therapy dog tag (I left it in the car, I don’t usually need them or use them.),
I hadn’t been cleared by the health office yet for volunteer work, I hadn’t produced all of Zinnia’s paperwork, I wasn’t permitted to take any photos that might violate HIPPA privacy laws, and I couldn’t simply walk around and visit people at will.
(I have made thousands of pictures of sick, dying and elderly people and I have never profited from one or sold one or violated HIPPA rules, I never write about anyone’s health issues unless the person and institution say it’s okay.
I realized today that it’s a country-city thing. I can’t imagine being tossed out of the Mansion because Zinnia isn’t wearing her tag, or for that matter, getting kicked out of Bishop Maginn because I showed up out of a pre-arranged time slot.
I also should say that hospitals have a lot of trouble with people showing up with all kinds of dogs they identify as therapy dogs, but which are not. They have the right to set any rules they wish, but this encounter seemed more hostile and insensitive that was necessary or appropriate.
So I don’t want to work there. They get to set the rules, I get to decide if I want to follow them. Fair enough. I just don’t feel like volunteering there after the way it was done.
Life is different in the city, even a small city like Saratoga. I bet lots of people wander around with dubiously trained dogs or curious ideas about therapy work. I don’t blame the hospital for having rules, I just don’t much live in that world any longer. I’ve been int he country too long.
Out here, even if they don’t like you, they know you.
Zinnia, we were not in Kansas anymore. Saratoga Springs is getting to be a big city, with significant city traffic, prices, and rules. We’re not in the country anymore.
I had asked for a meeting with the marketing and public relations staff to argue that Hippa laws are not meant to restrict speech and social interactions or to keep the sick or elderly from being photographed or seen. I don’t think the meeting is in the cards.
In all the places I’ve worked with Izzy and Red and Zinnia, all you need to do is get permission if you want to take a picture. I ask the person their aide or caregiver or nurse, and he institution instead of it’s okay. I think they don’t wish for me to take any pictures, it’s just risky.
Too bad, the many institutionalized people I see love being seen and hard. A hospital would look pretty good by letting some light in, just as a thought.
If it’s okay for the Mansion and okay for Bishop Maginn, why is it forbidden at a local hospital?
You have to do all the paperwork, the administrator said, pending applications or no. And there wasn’t much friendly chatter about it either, I got some more cold looks from her and was escorted to the front door. When I picked up Zinnia in the elevator so an elderly woman in a wheelchair could get a good look at her, my escort kept a close but said nothing.
She had no interest in talking to me, getting to know me, reassuring me, or helping me. Inside the ward, I felt I was in a womb with beautiful music and raw honey. Outside of the ward, I was in the real world.
I was a little shocked, and I wondered why I felt like a shoplifter or drug dealer.
Zinnia is a love and wonder magnet. She spreads light and joy wherever she goes; I would think a hospital would make a path for her. The staff is already crazy about her. But rules are rules.
I am thinking the vibe I got makes me feel like this isn’t the right place for us, although I do feel a pang. Rather than argue, I’ll quietly move along.
I’m not sure I like the strictures that are placed on therapy dogs at the hospital, as lovely and impressive as a place as it is. The hospital administrators are very wary of my taking any photos at any time; they want me to commit to a two-hour window, no walking down the corridors asking if anybody needs a dog and no wandering.
And I don’t usually put that service or therapy dog paraphernalia on her if she is known and familiar, why should she need to wear a tag every time, or why can’t I just put one in my pocket and show it if asked?
I don’t need to wear it on my sleeve.
Last week she was attacked in a pet store by a dog with all kinds of Seeing Eye Dog accessories on him – vests, tags, scarves, collars, leashes.
And he was no therapy or service dog.
I love to wander the Mansion or Bishop Maginn, or the other hospices and hospitals I’ve visited with my dogs. I always find people who would love to touch and see a dog but had no idea that I was there. I always bring a rabies certificate to prove she has her shots.
And taking photographs are not negotiable for me. Images bring life to the invisible people in hospitals and assisted care. They give voice to the voiceless and help the elderly and the dying be seen, heard and acknowledged
I love the freedom of wandering, and photographs are very important for me. I don’t charge for them or profit from them. They support my purpose, giving faces and stories to the mostly invisible people who are never seen by the outside world- sick people, older people, dying people.
I never take photos of people without permission, and I have never revealed any HIPPA secrets or taken a single image without permission.
So I think I’ll keep only looking for that third place for us to work. I’m sure the administrator was correct for busting me as a rule-breaker, she might have been a little warmer and softer about it, she was looking at me as if I was a felon who needed to get the hell out of her hospital.
Still, rules are rules, and hospitals can’t let anybody with a dog walk around anytime or anywhere they wish.
Maybe I’m spoiled with Zinnia; maybe I need to follow all these rules. Perhaps I need to follow my heart.
And maybe I need to find someplace else. Zinnia, welcome to the world. Today you were just another dog, and that might be very good for you.
But I need more trust and more freedom to bring you somewhere. That’s not an argument for me.
There is no negotiating with a bureaucrat and rules. I’ve fought this fight all of my life, and never yet won. Time to saddle up, ol’ girl.
Wow. One door shuts and another will surely open. Follow the love. Jon. That’s who and what you and Zinnia are. Looking forward to watching both of your paths unfold together.
I’m just a country boy now…
Not a country boy until you drive a truck. If you’re getting kicked out of the finer establishments, you better get yourself a pickup.
Their loss.
We all understand rules, but common sense has been lost. I use to do work at the nursing home my mom was in with our dog and once my paperwork was shown we didn’t need to bring it with us or wear her id. The residents life was so enriched by our visits and they shared stories with us from their life. And the staff loved the visits to. What a loss for the patients.
I had volunteered at a museum for over 30 years had keys to many area’s and I thought trusted the state Historical Soc started taking over the operation came one day and was told I no longer had access or was qualified asked how one gets qualified and the answer was you do not I was not the only one that was informed but it ended up there loss not mine they call it progress and then still want your donation when they come around and then also want more funding for what the volunteers were giving them free
I would think Bennington hospital would be a good fit…
But you do profit from those pictures. You make money from your blog, which is where the images are published. Ok, you’re probably not making earth-shattering money, but still. I’ve been a reader for a long time and truth is, it does feel a little bit exploitative. Sorry, just being honest.
Paula, what are you talking about? There is absolutely nothing honest about your post.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself for telling a hurtful lie like that. I have never sold a hospital, hospice, refugee or an elderly person’s photo. Comments like these are disheartening.
I take these pictures to give voice to people who are not heard or seen, I’ve never made a penny on them and have devoted many hours of my time on this work, for which I have never sought or received any kind of compensation.
If you had read the blog for years, as you claim, you would know that.
Are you really saying anyone who makes a living and who does any kind of good work is being exploitive? Why are you still here then?
I do ask to get paid for my other work on the blog. Do you get paid for your work? Is that exploitive? If I didn’t get money from my blog, there wouldn’t be a blog, certainly not one for free. If you read my blog for years and don’t contribute, who is exploiting who?
About one percent of the people reading the blog contribute to it, for which I am grateful. Most of the money that comes here goes to the elderly and refugee children and is so labeled. I have always tried to profit from my writing work, that’s how I pay my bills. I have no apologies do make from that.
All of my photos are free, they can be downloaded or used as screen savers or printed, there is no copyright on them. I sell some of my landscapes to pay for the camera. How do you pay your bills?
I like what Janet said>… and I am so sorry for you and this experience just hours after Susan passing. What might seem not relevant . My grandson texted the other day about a situation having a bad day / my reply back stay calm breath and always be kind He texted back yeah in agreement that I reminded “ be kind” and a little explanation of what had happened and he saw it a little differently after my reply…> a story over thirty years ago I drove a 1973 vw van( still do)my mother was ill/ I advocated for her in the following venues physicians / courts/ the ethics committee/ ( all these power people came to accept what I was advocating for./my mother passed @ 1927 hours on thanksgiving day the nurses came to get me ten minutes befor. I thanked everybody that had any involvement with my mom. Walking out to my van it was dark ( November) about 1800 hours. Got in drivers side closed door/ tears flowing heavily. Then heard pounding on my window by security guard screaming “you can’t be tresspassing in this parking lot this is hospital property”/ I assume he thought I was homeless me and the van had been there a lot I was so shocked I just turned on the key and left. This security officer was unkind I unfotunately will always remember him on this sad day for me / thanksgiving / mom die/ security officer/ … the supervisor u came across just hours after Susan died was unkind. I feel so much empathy regarding how u must felt just hours After and revisiting where u had spent the last days with Susan in a such positive way. Thank you for your advocacy and kindness for those in need the children the seniors the animals all whom you interact with ( by sharing on your blog interaction with those who follow your blog: Maria’s too) we learn from your example “to do Good”
What is the administrators back story? Did she get a report from another patient or family member who, possibly could not approve of your work? Maybe a staff member who doesn’t get it? It’s possible the hammer came down on her, and she was forced by the rules to come down on you and zinnia. Everyone has their own story behind the story.
I hope you can find a place that will work with you.
I have no idea Cheryl, and I can’t say I really care..I’m not launching an investigation, I’m happy to move along lots of places want Zinnia..She was just following her rules, and I wasn’t. I don’t think it’s any more complex than that..
So sorry Jon, that you didn’t receive a better reception from the hospital administrator. Having done therapy work with my former dog I know how valuable that can be. I did have concern though, about the comment you made about Zinnia being attacked by a Seeing Eye dog. As a fellow former New Jersey resident, I know you’re aware of the Seeing Eye organization in Morristown, NJ and the amazing work they do. I find it difficult to believe one of their highly trained dogs would be involved in an attack. I wonder if instead you meant a generic service dog. I’m a decades long supporter of the Seeing Eye and if their dog was involved in an attack, they should be aware.
Thanks Erin, as I wrote on the blog, that was not a dog from The Seeing Eye, the New Jersey foundation. I doubt it was a seeing eye dog at all, they just had a vest, as many people do…
Hospitals have become especially unfriendly places for visitors, but even more so for patients. Hospitals are practically run by the insurance companies nowadays and they are scared silly of lawsuits. Another example: I was recently hospitalized for a few days. I was quite ambulatory and I wanted to walk some to keep up my strength. It is well documented in the medical literature that inactivity causes hospitalized patients, especially the elderly, to lose strength rapidly. But there was an alarm on my bed and another one on my chair. If I dared to get up on my own, an alarm went off and (sometimes) staff would come racing to make sure I stayed put. The rationale: to prevent falls. However, if I were going to fall, there’s a good chance I would land on the floor before a staff member made it to the room. As far as I can tell, the only real function of the alarm was to keep patients penned up and out of the hair of the over-worked staff. It is also my understanding that eventually the staff contract “alarm fatigue” and subconsciously block the alarms from their hearing. I believe that this phenomenon is also documented in the literature.
Sorry – this post is a bit off-topic. Clearly one of my buttons has been pushed.
I’m a disabled service dog handler closing in on early old age. You are not going to like my perspective, but I ask you to be open to it, because I do have some idea of what it is like to be a member of a vulnerable population.
I understand that your intentions are good, but truly, you need to do some reading about informed consent in health care settings. The rules are there to protect patient rights and dignity. Good intentions don’t exempt you from being knowledgeable about the ethics of patient consent.
Some specific thoughts:
“In all the places I’ve worked with Izzy and Red and Zinnia, all you need to do is get permission if you want to take a picture. I ask the person their aide or caregiver or nurse, and he institution instead of it’s okay.”
It is a serious breach of ethics to get consent from anyone other than the patient. IMO, it’s not ok to ask a patient during a visit with a therapy dog; the patient may conclude that future visits are contingent upon photos. I know, I know, you never said that visits are contingent upon photos, but you don’t have to. Vulnerable people may assume that they are and will sacrifice their rights in an effort to avoid offending you.
These days, when photos can appear anywhere–wind up in Pinterest feeds or take on a life of their own in some other social media outlet, it is more important than ever to make sure that your subjects know exactly what their permission entails.
“I love the freedom of wandering, and photographs are very important for me. I don’t charge for them or profit from them. They support my purpose, giving faces and stories to the mostly invisible people who are never seen by the outside world- sick people, older people, dying people.”
Truly informed consent for the stories, as well as photos, is essential, especially in a health care setting. ” . . .Giving faces and stories. . .” is YOUR purpose. What are your subjects’ purposes? Do they WANT to be made visible? To be seen in their sickness, old age, and death or are they just going along? How do they benefit?
The disability community has a saying, “Nothing about us without us.” This history of disability and chronic illness in our culture is abled people deciding how best to “help” disabled people and using disabled people to feel better about themselves–think telethons and inspiration porn (internet memes, stories, and movies that use disabled people’s struggles to motivate those who are abled.)
Forgive me, but your love of wandering hospital halls and your stated purpose of giving faces and stories to mostly invisible people seems in line with this history, with you deciding what is good for the sick, aged, and dying people who are your subjects, with you using their struggles as fodder for your stories. I really hope you will look more closely into the concepts of informed consent.
And this is just a detail, but an essential one to me, as a service dog handler. The term “service dog” appears in your piece next to “therapy dog,” as though they are interchangeable. I’m sure you know that they are not.
Nothing wrong with your perspective, Jeanne, I have no problem with it..I just didn’t feel it was the right place for us..it had to do with tone, more than substance..
You seem clueless about why hospitals can’t have people wandering around. How do they know that you don’t have a communicable disease like tuberculosis or the Corona virus that would be transmitted to patients, or that a patient is on the toilet or changing clothes and their privacy would be violated. If a volunteer is vetted, hospitals are happy to have volunteers come in and try to brighten a patient’s day. They do it all the time and some bring therapy animals, including dogs horses and even a donkey. Vetting is the key. Since you refuse to follow the rules, it is proper for you to not be admitted.
I understand completely Lori, as I said, I just didn’t wish to follow all those rules (and I’ve worked in a bunch of hospitals without any difficulty)..It was my decision, I just didn’t feel comfortable there. I am well aware of how therapy dogs and hospitals interact..it just wasn’t the place for me..Aside from your needlessly snarky tone, I agree with everything you said.
Lori, I’m struck again and again that so many Americans have no idea any longer how to disagree without insulting somebody..i’ve been guilty of that, I look over my posts now and make sure I have not insulted somebody just because I disagree, and in this case, I don’t even disagree, and you are insulting anyway..I am not clueless, I might be wrong, but I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals and I well know how they work..
While the woman involved may not have been polite or tactful, she was completely in the right. Where I work, there are a million hoops to jump through to visit with a therapy dog, and rightfully so. Every dog has a hospital ID that it must wear at all times.
No one would want to be a patient in a hospital where the accountability is not high, for everyone. It certainly is high for employees!
A lot of this has to do with HIPPA, and a lot with epidemiology. Baths prior to visits, strict hand washing after contact and set schedules are just the beginning. You would not even get in the door where I work without extensive clearances.
As far as photography is concerned, that’s a no as well. The fear is that someone will be in the background. A more common error is to take a photo and there is a chart with a name on it in the photo, or a name on a door.
I am stunned at the amount of your readers that think you should just be able to enter a hospital with your dog, or that the woman involved was an evil person. She was doing her job. Maybe she could have been nicer.
I don’t think you will find the requirements any different at any other hospital.
Yes, I’m sure she was right, as I wrote…and yes, the requirements at many hospitals are different, I work regularly at several and have never been thrown off the property…The hospital has the right to set whatever rules they wish, and I can take it or leave it..I chose to leave it..Lots of hospitals welcome dogs now and make it easier for them to visit, you should ask around, you can avoid being stunned..but otherwise, you are absolutely right..If you read the piece, you will find I agree that the hospital has the right to set whatever rules they want, and I get to decide if I want to follow them..but the real issue for me is the way it was done, it just didn’t feel right to me and I’ll continue to work at the hospitals and nursing homes and assisted care facilities that welcome me and Zinna and where we seem to have no trouble communicating..Maybe it’s just an ego issue, but it didn’t feel right to me..
I am just glad the grace was flowing freely for the time Susan needed you and Zinnia…and you needed Zinnia there too. The harsh manner in which some have commented stabs at my heart. Does anyone ever stop, take a deep breath and ask themselves to consider that they may be responding to a presumption rooted in an attitude. I am very different from you…I don’t have the same frame of reference spiritually…namely, while you have mentioned you love the teachings of Jesus, but don’t think of him as God or Savior-I only know him as Savior and Lord. That is a distinction that seems big on paper but in spirit when I read your posts all I see is honesty of spirit, openness, serving the needs of others and transparency. What I am trying to say is I feel a fellowship with you…a woman who mentored me in the ways of God’s love years ago used to say to me “It’s not the man, but the spirit behind the man.” She was an old southerner who used to play the piano worship songs at the start of meetings with Dr. Martin Luther King. She watched as the powerful jet streams of water aimed at Civil Rights marchers bent in mid air and missed the people they were trying to wash away. Anyway, Jon I can only be grateful for your unvarnished narrative and knowing that growing and going on requires vulnerability I find myself praying for you because it seems we live in a world of such steeply opinionated personalities who are in seek and destroy mode. I know it has to hurt and every time someone like two individuals on this post, take that liberty I feel the painful sting of it and must refuse the urge to react to their words. We live in a society where fragile psyches abound and we are so disconnected from our very selves. I hope this makes some sense. I only want to say, I am a fellow sojourner and if I ever get to meet you I will snap your suspenders! I am saddened every time I see you must address boldface lies and accusations rooted in such self-righteousness..Is it jealousy? Is it that they ascribe to your words a motive that they imagine is against who they imagine themselves to be? I think great loneliness and emptiness lies behind a lot of it. I am for you Jon, not because of your ‘fame’ or because I love the dogs, donkeys, sheep, Maria’s story, the mansion, the children….the fact that you aren’t perfect, and you are flawed is wonderful….it is the point…there are so few places where we can go and hear people unscripted. I just want to wish you all the grace and support these few words can convey. I wish the same for those angry souls. At work some women just decided to hate me…all fueled by gossip and misunderstanding…it hurt, their intention was to hurt, but then after awhile, after weeping in front of friends in a prayer circle I began to see those women differently…and then I was in awe that for weeks and months that I could take up so much space in their mind. In my spirit I honestly prayed for them to be set free….I have received a lot of mercy and so I must be a steward of it. Oh I wish a wave of kindness like a balm of Gilead will wash over your heart, mind and soul.
Thanks Patricia, nice writing and much appreciated.