Cardiac Rehabilitation

Living with a heart condition affects you both physically and psychologically. ECHN’s cardiac rehabilitation services provides a customized education and exercise program to improve your overall well-being and help prevent future cardiac emergencies.

Nationally certified through the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR), our team of specialists includes board certified cardiac physicians, exercise physiologists, a registered dietitian, as well as registered nurses, pharmacists who are trained and experienced in the cardiac field.

Our cardiac rehabilitation program can benefit individuals who are at high risk for developing heart disease.

This program is comprised of 36 sessions (12 weeks). Each session is 1 hour in length and the program meets 3 times a week. This educational and exercise program aims to help you manage your condition over time. Throughout the program you will gain a better understanding on the anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system.

A physician referral is required to participate in the cardiac rehab program.

We can treat patients with the following cardiac conditions:

• Angina
  • A type of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. Angina is a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is also called angina pectoris. Angina pain is often described as squeezing, pressure, heaviness, tightness or pain in the chest.
• Angioplasty
  • A procedure to enlarge the opening in a blood vessel that has become narrowed or blocked by plaque(a buildup of fat and cholesterol on the inner wall of the blood vessel). Examples of angioplasty are balloon angioplasty and laser angioplasty.
• Arrhythmia
  • A heart arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat. Heart rhythm problems (heart arrhythmias) occur when the electrical signals that coordinate the heart's beats don't work properly.
• Cardiac bypass
  • Coronary/Cardiac bypass surgery is a procedure that restores blood flow to your heart muscle by diverting the flow of blood around a section of a blocked artery in your heart. Coronary bypass surgery redirects blood around a section of a blocked or partially blocked artery in your heart.
• Cardiomyopathy
  • A disease of the heart muscle that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body. Cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure. The main types of cardiomyopathy include dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive cardiomyopathy.
• Heart attack
  • The damaging or death of an area of the heart muscle (myocardium) resulting from a blocked blood supply to that area.
• Heart failure/Congestive Heart Failure
  • occurs when the heart muscle doesn't pump blood as well as it should.
• Heart/Cardiac transplant
  • the replacement of a patient's diseased or injured heart with a healthy donor heart.
• Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)
  • A common condition where a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries restricts blood supply to leg muscles. It's also known as peripheral vascular disease (PVD).
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
  • TAVR is a Heart Valve replacement or repair procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a man-made valve. Aortic valve replacement can also be performed with open-heart surgery; this procedure is surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR).

Through this program you will receive a customized exercise plan based on your current health and fitness level. You will also receive continuing education throughout the program on the following:

• Anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system
• Medications and other drug or food interactions
• Reducing your risk for heart disease
• Signs and symptoms of heart disease
• Strategies for healthy eating habits
• Stress management

Phase III Cardiac Rehabilitation Maintenance Program

Follow up care is available to those who have completed the formal, more structured cardiac rehabilitation program. The goal of this self-pay program is to encourage patients to continue the exercise learned during the initial phase of the program. It is also available to individuals who have not attended the structured program but would like to increase their activity level in a safe environment under the supervision of a cardiac nurse.