Jackson Holliday spotlights MedStar Good Samaritan’s Pets on Wheels program

Jackson Holliday brought an Orioles spotlight to a quiet corner of Baltimore health care when he visited MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital with his wife, Chloe, and their bernedoodle, Coconut, to showcase Pets on Wheels. The visit on Thursday, June 11, 2026, turned a baseball appearance into a closer look at a program that has been part of Baltimore-area care for nearly 45 years.

At Good Samaritan, pet therapy is treated as more than a feel-good extra. MedStar Good Samaritan says it is one of its most desired volunteer programs for certified Pets on Wheels animals, and MedStar Health describes the hospital as the Baltimore region’s pinnacle inpatient rehabilitation hospital. That matters in a place where patients are working through recovery after serious illness or injury and where even brief breaks in the day can change the tone of treatment.

Pets on Wheels says its therapy teams now log more than 175,000 touches in an average year at nearly 400 facilities and special events. Those visits reach far beyond hospitals, extending into nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, homeless and domestic violence shelters, veterans’ hospitals, libraries, schools, colleges and corporate campuses. The scale makes clear this is a longstanding volunteer network woven into daily life across Baltimore and beyond, not a one-time promotional stop.

Program leaders say the value is measurable in more than mood. They say interaction with therapy animals can reduce heart rate and blood pressure and help patients feel calmer, while rehab staff at Good Samaritan see the animals as part of the broader healing process. In a setting built around physical recovery, the visits can also give patients and families a mental reset during long stretches of treatment.

The Holliday family added a fundraising jolt after the visit, saying it would donate $500 for every Orioles home run to the pet therapy program. Pets on Wheels also notes that therapy pets are not the same as service animals, which have different rights and privileges, though some animals may be cross-certified under specific conditions. For Baltimore residents looking for a way to support the work, the hospital actively welcomes certified Pets on Wheels volunteers, and the program continues to place trained animals where patients, students and care workers can benefit from them.