Cardiac Rehab Celebrates 30 Years of Excellence

On October 23, 1978 St. Luke’s-Memorial Hospital opened its doors to exercising the first Cardiac Rehabilitation patient. It was the first cardiac rehabilitation program in Upstate New York and one of only 70 programs in the nation.

Today, 30 years later, the highly trained staff at Cardiac Rehab located at the Faxton Campus of Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare is helping hundreds of patients each year return to active and healthy lives. The program is now part of the Mohawk Valley Heart Institute (MVHI), a program of Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare and St. Elizabeth Medical Center.

“We are so proud of the progress we have made in the past three decades,” said Alice (Williams) Browar, RN, who has been with the program since its inception. “From new findings in cardiac care to more advanced equipment, we have continually improved our program to benefit our patients.”

In 1978, Cardiac Rehab was offered to patients who were diagnosed with a recent heart attack, coronary artery by-pass surgery, and stable angina pectoris. It was an educational program with a telemetry- monitored exercise program designed to strengthen the cardiovascular system, as well as support for patients to identify and manage their own personal coronary risk factors and develop a sense of well-being about life after having sustained a life-threatening cardiac event. Although this is common today, it was quite innovated at that time.

In 1979, St. Luke’s Cardiac Rehab joined other programs to form the New York State Association for Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehabilitation. In 1985, the program became a member of the newly formed American Association for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and met the vigorous standards for program certification of this national organization in 1992. In 1997, it became the cardiac rehabilitation program for the Mohawk Valley Heart Institute.

Today, the program, medically directed by Mark Blaker, MD, is operated by cardiac nurses and exercise physiologists. In addition to heart attack, angina, and CABG (write out what this means)patients, insurance companies cover the outpatient services for patients with recent valve surgery, coronary angioplasty, left ventricular assist devices, and heart/lung transplants.

"The program is highly individualized for each patient. It can be one to 36 sessions long, depending on a patient’s clinical status, readiness to accept a healthier lifestyle and the referring physician’s medical judgment,” Browar said. “Family members are encouraged to seek out information from the cardiac rehabilitation staff to help them care for their loved one and promote their own healing from this experience.”

The MVHI’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program is located at the Faxton Campus, 1676 Sunset Avenue, Utica, NY 13502. For further information about the program call 634-5335.