Facility Dog Jammer Leads Health First Canine Team That Offers Comfort Beyond Medicine

Jammer can perform more than 45 tasks

With tail wags and empathy, a fleet of therapy dogs brings peace and presence to hospitals across Brevard

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — At Health First, healing doesn’t always come in the form of medicine or machines. Sometimes, it walks in on four legs, wags its tail, and leans in — quite literally — to offer comfort no human could replicate.

That’s the magic of Jammer, Health First’s full-time facility dog and a beloved presence across its hospitals. But Jammer isn’t alone in this heartwarming mission. A devoted group of volunteer therapy dogs and their handlers regularly visit campuses across Brevard County, offering hope, calm and even joy during the toughest of times.

“You just see people decompress immediately,” said Joelle Boccabella, Manager of Volunteer Services for Health First’s Community Hospitals and Jammer’s full-time handler. “It gives them an opportunity to focus on something other than what’s happening. You hear people say, ‘The dogs are here!’ and the entire energy shifts.”

Unlike the therapy dogs who primarily support staff and visitors and may visit select patient rooms, Jammer is on staff as a facility dog that carries with it a much higher level of training and responsibility.

Jammer can perform more than 45 tasks, including opening doors, turning on light switches and even getting into hospital beds when invited — something he’s done for patients nearing the end of life, offering a presence that is both deeply calming and, at times, seemingly intuitive.

“I’ve had a situation where he laid directly across a patient’s abdomen and I was about to correct him because that’s not how he’s trained to position,” Boccabella recalled. “But the patient’s wife stopped me and said, ‘That’s where his cancer is. He knew.’ He stayed there through last rites. She told me later she couldn’t put into words what that moment meant to them.”

Health First’s therapy dog program includes more than two dozen volunteer dog-handler teams who serve at various facilities, including Holmes Regional, Palm Bay, Cape Canaveral and Viera hospitals. Most are certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs or Canine Companions Therapy Dog Program and follow strict behavioral and health protocols.

“The dogs are amazing,” Boccabella said. “They just know. After spending time on the floors, they start to pick up on those subtle cues — who wants them close, who doesn’t — and, just like Jammer, they instinctively offer that perfect moment of comfort, distraction, and healing.”

The presence of these dogs has a measurable impact — especially in critical care, trauma and emotionally charged situations. Deacon Tom Buddington, a chaplain at Health First’s Cape Canaveral Hospital, sees it every week.

“As chaplains, we can’t take people’s pain away,” he said. “But when Jammer walks into a room — even for five minutes — that face full of fur gives people a break from the tragedy in front of them. Sometimes that break is everything.”

Buddington shared how important it is for patients, families and even staff to give themselves permission to smile — and the therapy dogs make that possible. “In tough moments, people sometimes feel like they shouldn’t laugh or feel joy,” he said. “But when a dog walks in, it breaks that tension. It gives them a reason to smile, even if just for a minute — and that’s powerful.”

He recalled instances where Jammer provided support during pediatric ICU visits, helped grieving families facing unimaginable loss and even offered a healthy emotional outlet for medical staff coping with traumatic cases.

“I’ve seen staff in the ER, after the worst kind of trauma, just get on the floor with Jammer and breathe again,” Buddington said. “That’s a sacred moment. He becomes part of our pastoral care team in a very real way.”

“These dogs are incredibly intuitive. They pick up on stress, on emotion and they carry it with them in the most selfless way,” said Boccabella.

That’s why Jammer — who is by Boccabella ‘s side gets downtime and regular breaks. But even then, he often doesn’t want to miss a moment. “He gives me dirty looks when I leave him home,” she laughed. “They live to do this. This is what they’re meant for.”

Sure, they soothe stress, but they also brighten hallways, lift spirits and leave a trail of smiles wherever they go. They encourage patients to get out of bed and walk. They visit the Cancer Center, nurse’s stations, waiting rooms and — when appropriate — patient bedsides.

“I had a nurse once tell me, ‘How did he know I needed him?’” Boccabella said. “Jammer walked past everyone else in the room and went right to her.”

That kind of connection doesn’t come from a textbook. It comes from something deeper. Something instinctual. Something that, for Buddington, borders on the spiritual.

“We’re created to be with animals,” he said. “They’re part of God’s creation. They offer healing in a way that nothing else can — not even us.”

And sometimes, Buddington added, it’s the chaplain who needs the therapy dog. “It helps me, too,” he said.

At Health First, healing isn’t just in medicine. It’s in the paws and presence of some very good dogs who remind everyone — in the darkest moments — that love, comfort and connection are never out of reach.

As Vista, one of Health First’s beloved therapy dogs, puts it in a video shared on the Health First Facebook page: “At the end of the day, I’m pretty tired. But it’s the best kind of tired — because I know we made a difference.”

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