VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital partners with UCLA Health System to provide veterinary care for pets

In partnership with the UCLA Health System, a human hospital and clinic network associated with the University of California-Los Angeles, VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital has launched two new programs to help provide care for patients' pets and hospital therapy dogs.

The first is an emergency care program for pets belonging to UCLA Health System patients. Most veterinarians recognize that it can be difficult to find care for pets when a person is suddenly faced with their own medical emergency. In recognition of this challenge, VCA West Los Angeles and UCLA Health have developed an action plan to provide assistance. If a patient is being admitted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica, and has their service pet with them—or if it's discovered that a dog or cat is in the patient's vehicle—the pet will be safely transported by UCLA Health System personnel to VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital for care. The hospital will provide limited boarding at no cost to the owner for the pet until the pet owner is able to be released from the human hospital.

The second partnership initiative is a wellness program for People Animal Connection (PAC) therapy dogs. Currently UCLA Health System has approximately 70 registered PAC therapy dogs that regularly visit hospital patients. These dogs and their handlers and owners provide an enormous service and enriching experience for many hospitalized individuals, program developers say. To help PAC therapy dogs continue this work, VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital is providing free yearly physical examinations for all registered PAC dogs (for more information on the program, visit uclahealth.org/PAC).

VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital says it is proud to launch these two programs with UCLA Health System to help patients and their pets as well as hospital therapy dogs.