Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac Rehabilitation Service

Education – Exercise – Lifestyle
Learning to lead a healthy lifestyle pays you big dividends in the way you look, how you feel, and the quality of your life. That becomes even more important when you have heart disease. By working with NorthCrest Medical Center’s professional staff, you can learn to make wise decisions leading toward a fuller life.

How does cardiac rehabilitation help?
Your rehab combines education and exercise. Education begins as you learn to recognize the lifestyle and risk factors contributing to your heart disease. You will also feel the benefits when you enhance your education with supervised exercise. The staff will monitor your breathing, heart rhythm and rate, and blood pressure while you exercise under guidance.

Two phases of cardiac rehabilitation:
Phase I begins in the hospital with low-level activity to help you get stronger. You’ll learn facts about heart disease and how lifestyle changes will help your recovery.

Phase II may continue for 12 weeks. Your exercise program helps you increase your strength and stamina by progressively working longer to a greater intensity. Education focuses on changing cardiac risk factors. The staff customizes an exercise routine you can do safely at home. Classes on managing stress, eating a healthy diet, quitting smoking, and other topics are available. A physician’s referral is required.

Cardiac rehabilitation may prove beneficial if you’ve had:

A heart attack
Coronary bypass surgery
Valve repair/replacement surgery
A pacemaker or defibrillator implants
Balloon angioplasty atherectomy
A heart transplant
Angina pectoris/chest pain

PEP PROGRAM
Prevention and Exercise Program (PEP)
You can learn to feel stronger, look better, and stay healthier by adapting an improved lifestyle and managing your risk factors. By working with NorthCrest Medical Center’s professional staff, you will start a more independent phase of your rehabilitation.

How does PEP help?
Education and exercise hold the key to a healthier lifestyle and prevention of coronary artery disease. Initially you will be monitored by EKG telemetry and be given a personalized exercise prescription. You will be taught to monitor yourself for independent exercise and lifetime maintenance. By working with the rehab team, you will see the impact of reducing high blood pressure, managing stress, improving your breathing, and creating good habits like better nutrition and working to increase your strength and endurance.

PEP may prove beneficial if you have any of the following risk factors:

Diabetes
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
C.O.P.D. (asthma, bronchitis, emphysema)
Heart disease
Congestive heart failure
Obesity
Sedentary lifestyle
Prior heart surgery: CABG, PTCA, Stent placement, Valve repair/replacement, Transplantation, Pacemaker/AICD

The cost for PEP is $50 for ten sessions. A physician’s referral is required.

NorthCrest Cardiac Rehab
The NorthCrest Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation program involves up to three phases of cardiac rehab with each tailored to meet the needs and conditions of individual participants. Monitored by ACLS-certified exercise physiologists, the program includes exercise and education as core elements of each phase. Participants learn about their anatomy, safe activity levels, risk factors, medications, diet, and stress levels as they safely establish good exercise habits.

NorthCrest Cardiac Rehab Programs:
Phase II Cardiac Rehab – patient must have a physician’s referral.
Heart-to-Heart Cardiac Rehab Support Group – meets the first Monday of each month.

Prevention & Exercise Program (PEP) – open to any patient with cardiac risk factors; physician referral required; cost is $50 for ten visits.

Smoking Cessation Classes – endorsed by the American Lung Association; $25 plus a $50 refundable fee if the patient attends all sessions.

Hours of Operation
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Thursday 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.