The UAB Trauma Burn intensive care unit is the winner of the 2020 Tweety Lasker award from Hand in Paw. The award was created in 2007 by Jim and Katie Lasker upon the passing of their beloved greyhound, Tweety. The memorial provides $10,000 each year to Hand in Paw to support its healing work. It also recognizes a facility that has worked in collaboration with Hand in Paw to bring therapy visits to their clients/patients. The selected facility is presented a Brad Morton bronze statue of Tweety to proudly display.
UAB’s Trauma and Burn Intensive Care Unit was honored for their exceptional service and dedication to incorporating the healing visits of Hand in Paw therapy teams. The unit provides critical care for trauma and burn patients requiring intensive therapeutic interventions. Patients in the unit have life-threatening conditions or injuries which require continuous close observation or specialized monitoring and the care of an extensive medical staff.
“Our patients and staff love the visits,” said Erin Townsend, assistant nurse manager of TBICU. “It’s a pretty demanding unit and the nurses just light up when they see the dogs come. They could be having the worst night ever - super busy, haven’t sat down, haven’t eaten, haven’t gone to the bathroom - and they will see one of those dogs come down the hallway and it changes their perception of the whole night. We are very thankful for Hand in Paw and everything they do. It has been such a morale booster for TBICU and we are very grateful and very honored.”