Good Samaritan Hospital has a new employee. Meet Sam the German Shepherd. He likes pets

There’s a 3-year-old working at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup. He has four legs.

Sam, a purebred German Shepherd, has been roaming the hospital with K-9 handler Frank Fuchs since early September.

The hospital acquired the pair to give patients, staff and visitors an additional level of comfort and protection, Justin Worthington, site security and hospitality operations manager said.

Sam is a dual-purpose K-9. This means he’s trained in patrol procedures as well as narcotics detection, Worthington said. However, Sam can also provide a “calming and de-escalating factor” by engaging with people.

“He’s so social, he’s willing to work all the time and he’s very focused,” Fuchs said.

An unintended consequence the hospital found with Sam is his therapeutic effect, Worthington said. There are times his presence helps soothe patients who are afraid of procedures they’re about to have.

One instance Worthington recalls involves a pediatric patient who was about to receive some vaccines. The patient was “really scared” but calmed down when Sam lay beside the patient, allowing the clinical team to work.

People’s response to Sam has been “overwhelmingly positive,” Worthington said.

“His demeanor fits so good here,” Worthington said.

Earlier this year, Fuchs was tasked with visiting a K-9 training school to pick a potential partner. He chose Sam out of 14 total dogs as he is well-focused and has a good temperament.

Worthington said the cost of Sam’s training, response vehicle and other things is roughly $100,000.

The Good Samaritan Foundation financially supports Sam’s training lessons and response vehicle, among other things. They also pay for his food and veterinary bills, Worthington said. Sam heads to and from home with Fuchs.

Revamping the hospital’s security department is one of Worthington’s goals upon joining the department. Having a K-9 contributed to that goal as Sam helps de-escalate situations, he said.

“The driving force behind getting the K-9 was we’re dealing with this epidemic of lawlessness in our community and an escalation of increased workplace violence towards health care workers,” Worthington said. “That’s something that’s actually well-studied and documented. It’s continuing to rise and rise. A lot of people don’t realize that health care workers actually have the highest rate of workplace violence out of almost any career field, including law enforcement.”

Public information officer Scott Thompson said Sam’s training is the same training a police dog goes through, except that Sam and his handler practiced hospital-specific scenarios.

“Sam is a dual-purpose dog, meaning he is trained in patrol which does include vocalizing (barking) and can bite if commanded; however we would only use that in the most severe of circumstances such as a life-threatening encounter with an armed intruder,” Thompson wrote via email. “The second function is drug detection which we use to find and keep drugs out of the hospital because it can interfere with patient care.”

It was important for the hospital to find a social dog, he said, and they found that it Sam.

“... he was selected for his demeanor because that allows us to have a dog that provides comfort and therapeutic interactions in addition to his patrol and drug detection functions,” Thompson wrote.

Sam and Fuchs aren’t the only duos in MultiCare. Tacoma General Hospital and Auburn Medical Center also have K-9s and handlers – duos they acquired before Good Samaritan did.

Worthington said the first state hospital that acquired a K-9 was Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.