Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center - Richmond, VA

 McGuire VAMC is a Guide and Service Dog, friendly zone. Under Federal law, Veterans, visitors, and employees who require the use of trained Guide and or Service Dogs will have access to hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities.

A guide dog has been specially trained to guide a blind or visually impaired person. A service dog has been specifically trained to help persons who have disabilities other then visual impairments.  This may include, but may not be limited to daily living activities, such as pulling a wheelchair, retrieving items, alerting the hearing impaired to intruders or sounds, etc.

A psychiatric service dog may be used to assist Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) patients in coping with their symptoms. The owner of the Guide or Service Dog is responsible for the animal’s behavior and control.  The owner is also responsible for the feeding, grooming and other aspects of the care of the animal. 

The use of a Guide and or Service Dog is permitted in all areas of the Medical center with the exception of areas where sterile or invasive procedures are performed or areas that require gowns and masks to reduce the risk of contamination.

These areas include:

a. Operating Rooms
b. Intensive Care Units
c. Infection Disease Units and/or Rooms
d. Dialysis
e. Pharmacy
f. Microbiology Labs
g. Special Procedure Rooms
h. Chemotherapy Rooms
i. Dermatology or Allergy Clinics
j. Any clinical area restricted by a Physician’s order

So if you are planning a visit to McGuire VAMC, don’t leave your Guide or Service Dog home. Staff at the medical center will provide appropriate assistance to those Veterans.