BARNESVILLE — Barnesville Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program has significantly reduced the wait time to enter the Phase II Program, which is for patients who have suffered an acute incident.

This reduction in the wait time will allow participants to experience the full benefits of the program before they need to return to work. Cardiac rehab has been shown to reduce death rates after a heart attack just as much, if not more, than medicines such as beta blockers or statins. Participants also tend to lose weight, lower their cholesterol, improve their diabetes and reduce anxiety and depression. Many people develop friendships with their fellow participants along the way. Participants also develop good exercise habits they can use for the rest of their lives.

“With the addition of a number of cardiologists in the Ohio Valley, the demand for cardiac rehabilitation continues to increase,” said Dr. Russell Lee-Wood, Barnesville Hospital medical staff member and hospital trustee. “The recent changes which were made in the cardiac rehabilitation program allow patients to be seen without a significant wait time. This maximizes the benefit they can receive from cardiac rehab. I am pleased we can offer this service in our community.”

Cardiac rehabilitation can improve an individual’s quality of life and help prevent future heart events for patients who have had a heart attack, angioplasty, implanted stent and cardiovascular surgery.

“We continue to regret that we had to eliminate the maintenance phase of cardiac rehab to accommodate the growing demand of acute cardiac patients,” said Elise Koski, cardiopulmonary manager.” However, we are pleased to be working with Ferrum Fitness, formerly Corner Fitness, to offer a comparable maintenance program to provide the services they need to continue on a path to a healthy lifestyle.”

For additional information about Barnesville Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, call Elise Koski at 740-425-5144. For patients in need of Phase II cardiac rehabilitation, a referral can be made by a physician or hospital by calling 740-425-5123.