Mayo Clinic's personal pet visitation policy has been in place for at least 20 years at its Minnesota campus and is part of its Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program, said program coordinator Barb Thomley. As is typical of hospital pet visiting programs, Mayo Clinic requires family and staff to obtain approval from the patient's attending physician, schedule the visit ahead of time so as not to conflict with clinical care, and limit the in-room visit to 2 hours so the patient does not become overly fatigued.

Additional Coverage: WebMD

Medscape Today by Kathleen Louden

Tags: Barb Thomley, Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program, Complementary/Alternative Medicine, Health Policy, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Medscape Today, pet visit, pet visitation policy, pet visiting program