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“Terri brought this to me, and it sounded like a HEALTH
wonderful opportunity,” says Beth Mann, RN, MSN,
Vice President for Cardiovascular Services and Nursing THE PROS OF
Strategy, Navicent Health. “She arranged a meeting with PET OWNERSHIP
the cardiac administration team and a team from UGA,
and together, everyone brainstormed about the best ways Owning a pet is great for the owner’s health! According to the Centers for
to set the plan in motion. Everyone was excited to save the Disease Control and Prevention:
lives of animals with reusable devices.” »» Pet owners have lower blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
»» People with pets may exercise outdoors more as they play with their pet
The Navicent Health and University of Georgia Pacemaker
Donation Program became a reality on Feb. 8, 2018, when and take it on walks.
Navicent shipped 27 pacemakers, which had been explanted »» Having a pet increases the chance of socialization. Owners may take a dog
from patients and sterilized, to the university. Only the
pacemakers of living donors are used for the program. to a dog park, walk a dog with friends or meet up with other pet owners to
talk about their furry friends!
Many of the pacemakers they sent had at least five and »» Pets cut down on loneliness. Whether the pet is a dog, a cat, a goldfish or even
a half years of battery life left, offering aging dogs the a hermit crab, it provides someone to talk to—even if the pet doesn’t respond!
opportunity for many more evening walks and games of
fetch. And the pacemakers with less battery life could still SPECIAL THANKS TO THE BIBB COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
prove useful as teaching tools in the classroom for UGA BONDABLE PUPS PROGRAM FOR ALLOWING US TO PHOTOGRAPH
veterinary students. THEIR DOGS FOR THIS ARTICLE. IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS
INTERESTED IN ADOPTING A BONDABLE PUP, PLEASE CONTACT THE
“Developing a relationship with Navicent Health BIBB COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE.
and our cardiology service has been a really rewarding
*Dogs photographed for this article are not pacemaker recipients.

This project demonstrates that with some creativity and a desire to share with others,
solutions can be found. Each donated pacemaker that has benefited a person will now
have benefited a dog, as well. The same resource will have positively impacted twice as

many lives with no downside to anyone, and we can all feel good about that.

—Gregg Rapaport, DVM, DACVIM, veterinary cardiologist with the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine

experience,” says Gregg Rapaport, DVM, DACVIM, veterinary
cardiologist with the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine. “It
has been a great example of teamwork and of selflessness and
generosity on the part of Navicent Health and its patients. None
of this would be possible without Terri Matula and Gordon
Thomas, a member of our development team here at UGA.”

PATIENT AND POOCH PARTICIPATION

Any pet owner whose canine receives care from the UGA College of
Veterinary Medicine can participate in the pacemaker program, and
the school has already benefited from the partnership. UGA typically
implants between five and 10 pacemakers into dogs each year, and as
of early fall, four dogs had received pacemakers donated by patients
at Navicent Health.

IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE HAS A PACEMAKER THAT NEEDS
TO BE REPLACED AND WOULD LIKE TO DONATE IT TO A
DOG IN NEED, TALK WITH YOUR NAVICENT HEALTHCARE
PROVIDERS.

5WINTER 2018 | navicenthealth.org