Laura Lee is a 3-three-year old Golden Retriever. Prior to her employment at NNMC, she was involved with the Southwestern Guide Dog Program, Paws for Patriots Division that trains dogs to be companion guides to wounded service members.

Patricia Barry, Laura Lee’s caretaker and secretary to director for Surgical Services, said Laura Lee was unable to complete the program because of imperfect hip alignment.

‘‘Guide dogs have to be perfect in every way,” said Barry. ‘‘When they’re at risk of developing hip dysplasia, as Laura Lee is, they are disqualified from being a one-on-one guide dog and are put into what they call a ‘career change.’”

Paws for Patriots had provided a dog to WRAMC and were interested in expanding the program to NNMC, said Capt. David Bitonti, director for Surgical Services. He was involved in this placement and thought of Barry right away as being an appropriate caregiver to Laura Lee.

‘‘Dr. Bitonti knew I’d lost my own Golden Retriever two years earlier and asked me if I’d be interested in taking care of the National Naval Medical Center’s Therapy Dog. I agreed and took ownership Nov. 27, 2007, one day short of the anniversary of my other dog’s death.”

In the 18 months Laura Lee has been at Bethesda she has kept up a very busy schedule. She works three days a week in Physical Therapy where she greets patients at the front entrance. She also works with the chaplains, healthcare mediators and other staff members.

Amy O’Connor, a Healthcare Mediator at NNMC, takes Laura Lee a couple times a month through the Intensive Care Unit to visit with doctors, nurses and corpsmen. ‘‘No matter what’s going on, Laura Lee makes it better,” O’Connor said.

‘‘Sometimes one of the doctors or nurses will ask me to bring her into a patient’s room,” O’Connor said. ‘‘These patients can be in a great deal of pain, but for that one moment, Laura Lee perks them up.”

Lt. Cmdr. Dan Stallard, head chaplain in Bethesda’s Pastoral Care Department, believes pets have a positive effect on the health and well-being of people. He started a program with Laura Lee called ‘‘T 4 the Soul” for occupational health-stress reduction.

‘‘I take her to visit staff members and bring tea and cookies,” Stallard said. ‘‘The staff members pet and talk to her. Her mere presence has a calming effect on them and there is an instant sense of relaxation for everyone.”

‘‘I don’t normally take her into see patients unless I get a specific request from one of the doctors to do so,” Stallard said.

One time, Stallard recalled, a severely ill patient on the ward who had two dogs that she missed terribly. The patient’s doctor asked him to bring Laura Lee to her room.

‘‘We put Laura Lee up on the chair next to the patient’s bed, so she could pet her,” he said. ‘‘There was an instantly visible affect on the patient and her facial expression.”

Laura Lee lifts the spirits of all those who come in contact with her. Stallard calls his work with her a ‘‘different way of ministry.”