Cardiac Rehabilitation

Understanding Cardiac Rehabilitation

Wellstar’s world-class cardiac rehabilitation team specializes in enabling optimum cardiovascular recovery from a cardiac event or intervention, such as a heart attack, angioplasty, stents, coronary artery bypass surgery, heart valve repair or replacement and heart or lung transplant.

After designing your customized plan, our team of clinical heart specialists, exercise specialists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, behavioral health clinicians and nutrition experts supports you every step of the way as you work to improve and maintain your health and quality of life.

Wellstar cardiac rehabilitation includes a thorough evaluation, then a plan of monitored exercise, lifestyle education and emotional support designed just for you. Exercise improves cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength through low-impact activities and resistance training. Lifestyle education empowers you to break bad habits, like smoking and overeating, and adopt healthy habits, like exercise and proper nutrition. Emotional support helps you manage stress and learn to cope with heart disease.

The Wellstar Heart Care team includes cardiologists, nurses, dietitians, exercise specialists, behavioral health clinicians, physical therapists and occupational therapists. Our team works together to help you learn lifelong heart-healthy behaviors and lower your risk for future heart issues.

The goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to significantly decrease or eliminate the risk factors that cause a progression of CAD. The program addresses physical, psychological and social aspects with the focus on healthy habits to last a lifetime.

Starting an exercise program and making other changes may seem intimidating, or even frightening to patients who have had a procedure or an incident. Case managers create a safe and secure environment that promotes long-term changes and inspires confidence.

Cardiac rehabilitation has been shown to:

Decrease mortality rates from all causes by up to 45%.
Decrease risk of future heart attacks by 25%.
Decrease the number of future emergency department visits.
Decrease the overall cost of health care.
Contribute to significant improvement in quality of life due to the positive effect on physical and mental health.

Doctors and patients agree that cardiac rehab is a valuable tool and resource. In general, patients who participate feel better and live longer.

The program is based on a four-step process:

Initial and ongoing assessment of the patient to personalize a care plan.
Continuous communication with the referring physician.
Monitored exercise sessions in a safe and secure environment.
Education and counseling about lifestyle changes involving diet, smoking cessation, weight loss, depression, stress management, exercise and other topics.

Our exceptional staff is supported by state-of-the-art equipment and systems including:

Telemetry-based cardiac monitoring.
Blood glucose monitoring for diabetic patients.
Microfit Complete Fitness Assessment Program.
Cardiac/aerobic exercise equipment.
Nautilus exercise machines.
Hydraulic resistance training.
State-of-the-art emergency cart managed by staff certified in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS).
Audio-visual aids.

Wellstar providers emphasize a prompt, seamless transition from an incident or hospitalization to rehabilitation. Patients who are hospitalized for a cardiac-related illness will meet with a Wellstar cardiac rehabilitation educator while in the hospital to be introduced to the program.

Following release from the hospital, patients will begin a regular program of monitored exercise and lifestyle education as soon as medically appropriate as determined by their physician.