Jackson Health System is welcoming a new member to the team – the health system’s first-ever facility assistance dog, Harmony
February 13, 2023 – Jackson North Medical Center has partnered with Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities, a Connecticut-based nonprofit that connects organizations across the nation with trained dogs to assist individuals with different disabilities, to onboard Harmony and serve its rehabilitation patients through therapeutic services.
Trained facility assistance dogs can help reduce patients’ anxiety and stress in different environments or circumstances. Harmony underwent two years of intense training to respond to more than 80 cues at the direction of her four handlers, who are rehabilitation therapists at Jackson North. The handlers were specially trained to use Harmony’s skills in a hospital setting to engage patients in activities that meet their rehabilitation goals.
Harmony’s services range from companionship, retrieving items, tugging a rope, and walking next to patients who are working on their balance and strength. In addition, patients at Jackson North will be able to play, feed, groom, and walk with her.
Harmony will serve as a full-time employee at Jackson North, and will be cared for by her handlers. She will receive a Jackson badge and will make her services available to all patients in need of a furry companion. To make an appointment with Harmony, Jackson patients can call her phone number or email her Jackson inbox.
About Jackson North Medical Center
Jackson North Medical Center is new, inside and out. We’ve doubled the size of our emergency department and added a separate, designated pediatric emergency room. Labor and delivery suites have been refreshed to offer a spa-like atmosphere. Surgical suites have been outfitted with the latest technologies. And our Outpatient Rehabilitation Center has been upgraded with the latest equipment.
Inside, Jackson North also features a beautifully-updated lobby, reception area and dining center to complement our beautifully-updated patient rooms. While outside, the new Jackson North makes a great first impression with exterior designs courtesy of Arts in Public Spaces as well as an artistically-redesigned front entrance.
The finished hospital is miraculous, thanks in large part to the Jackson Miracle-Building Bond Program.
Compassionate care
Our 382-bed hospital, located in North Miami Beach, serves the regions of North Miami-Dade and South Broward, and it’s one of Jackson Health System’s four full-service hospitals. Here, we give our patients convenient, compassionate care along with access to our world-class health system. At Jackson North, we value our patients and provide them with the trusted care that has long been associated with the Jackson name.
We are also home to several specialized centers, including:
24/7 Adult and Pediatric Emergency Room
Gastric Sleeve Center at Jackson North for bariatric weight loss surgery
Jackson North Specialty Care Center
Little Miracles Suites at The Women’s Pavilion
Neurosciences
Rehabilitation Services
The Sports Medicine Center at Jackson North
