Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehab

Wabash General Hospital’s Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehabilitation Department is committed to treating patients with heart and/or lung conditions who may have trouble breathing or experience chest pains. While the medical field of cardiology focuses on heart health, pulmonary health is lung-focused. The certified, highly qualified technicians and therapists on our staff work to meet patients’ needs. Our staff educates patients about their diagnosis and how to manage it so they can live a better quality of life.

It's important to protect your heart and lungs. In fact, heart disease is the top killer of both men and women on a global scale. Not only that, but many who have heart disease are unaware, because they don’t recognize it or they have no noticeable symptoms until after they experience a cardiac event like a heart attack. That’s why heart disease is frequently called a “silent killer.”

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Our cardiac rehabilitation team will help you with graduating levels of exercise to help you overcome the effects of bed rest and reduce anxiety related to hospitalization or a sudden traumatic event. Our team will combine exercise and education to help you return to an active and productive lifestyle. We will monitor progress toward individual goals as you improve and customize an activity and education plan specifically for you.

What Is Cardiac Rehabilitation?

A supervised exercise program designed to improve and increase strength and stamina. Rehab involves exercise training, heart healthy education and counseling to help make the necessary life style changes that are needed for overall heart health.

We treat patients with the following heart conditions:

• Coronary angioplasty or coronary stent
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Current stable angina (chest pain)
• Heart attack in the last 12 months
• Heart or heart/lung transplant
• Heart valve repair or replacement
• Stable chronic heart failure

Phase III Program

Purpose:

Phase III refers to a maintenance Cardiac Rehab program without physician supervision and monitoring. This coverage decision pertains only to Phase II cardiac rehabilitation. Phase III is designed to help the patient continue to maintain a healthier lifestyle through supervised exercise sessions and health education. Phase III is an extension of Phase II with the emphasis to further achieve your goals through self-structured exercise sessions.

Exercise programs are individually tailored and may include any of the current exercise equipment in the cardiac rehab facility. Participants may attend up to 5 sessions per week.

Cost:

Phase III is a self-pay program. $5 per session to be paid at the beginning of each Phase III session.

Enrollment:

Once medically cleared for participation, Phase III is available to recent Phase II graduates or by physician referral for patients who meet risk stratification or preventative measures. Medical clearance is given by written order or a physician's "OK" for the patient to participate in exercise.

Documentation:

Patient daily resting vitals (weight, HR, BP) and post exercise vitals (HR and BP) will be documented on the Daily Vitals Log Sheet for Phase III Cardiac Rehab and scanned into the patient's chart in EPIC when completed.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

The goal of pulmonary rehabilitation is to slow the progression of long-term pulmonary diseases, as well as reduce shortness of breath, improve endurance, and increase independence and quality of life.

What Is Pulmonary Rehabilitation?

A respiratory therapist can assist in lung and breathing disorder testing, assess evidence based treatments for these disorders, and be a point of contact on a patient’s healthcare team while treating lung diseases. Our registered respiratory therapists focus on educating patients and their families about what they can expect during and after diagnostic testing, as well as providing access to important community resources to help them cope.

Patients with conditions like emphysema, COPD, or angina can benefit from the care of a respiratory therapist. These specialists provide expert care to patients with heart and lung disorders and deliver medications and helpful therapies that can help ease their breathing and learn home management techniques for better breathing.

We also treat patients with lung conditions like:

• Asthma
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Chronic bronchitis
• Occupational or environmental lung disease
• Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Lung transplant recipients
• Post COVID Lung

For more information about our services at the Cardiac & Pulmonary Department of Wabash General Hospital, please call (618) 263-6380. A physician’s referral is required for service.