They see him coming down the hall and hospital staff members stop what they’re doing.

As he enters patients’ rooms, spirits suddenly are uplifted.

Chuck is in the building.

The Chihuahua is a rock star in Chandler Regional Medical Center’s Paws for Patients therapy-dog program, and he seems to know it.

One patient said he has Chuck’s baseball-card facsimile on his refrigerator.

Chuck has a page – June – in the Paws for Patients calendar, featuring canines in the program, which was created in 2006 to not only cheer up patients and their families, but also staff members in their high-stress jobs.

Megan Sterling, brings her Chuck the Chihuahua for patient Aiden Serrano to visit with as he lay in his bed at Chandler Regional Medical Center. (Annalee Hull/Staff Photographer)

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