South Lake Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Center

In the past, those who needed cardiac rehabilitation in south Lake County had to travel as far away as Ocoee or north Lake County for help. However, all that has changed thanks to the opening of South Lake Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Center.

Located on the picturesque South Lake Hospital campus inside The South Lake Heart & Vascular Institute, this state-of-the-art center offers cardiac patients quality care close to home.

“This was one of the biggest underserved areas and we could see there was certainly a need for such a facility in the community,” says Matt Bolin, manager of cardiac services. “It took 16 months of planning and building, but now we can offer rehabilitation to patients who have experienced a heart attack or undergone a coronary intervention such as bypass surgery or open heart surgery.”

It has been proven that people who have suffered a heart attack or other heart condition often benefit from participating in a cardiac rehabilitation program as part of the recovery process. Therefore, at South Lake Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Center, patients participate in monitored outpatient exercise three times per week in a supportive, energetic and extremely inspiring environment.

“In addition to the great service and care we’re offering our patients, the building itself is amazing,” says Bolin. “It has a breathtaking view of the hills here in Clermont and was designed to be uplifting. And in turn, it inspires our staff, making this an upbeat, inviting center.”

At the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center, a patient’s physician, exercise physiologist and cardiac nurse work together to prescribe a customized program with the aim of improving exercise tolerance, strength and flexibility and controlling and minimizing risk factors.

“The ultimate goal is to get these cardiac patients exercising on their own. It’s not just about getting strong again. It’s also about teaching our patients to make healthier choices,” says Bolin.

Therefore, the center offers guidance on how to manage controllable risk factors such as smoking, healthy eating and controlling hypertension and diabetes. In addition, once patients reach their goals in cardiac rehabilitation, they then move into the maintenance phase of recovery and have the opportunity to set personal fitness goals by working with exercise specialists and physiologists at South Lake Hospital’s LiveWell Fitness Center.

“Phase One is the actual cardiac event that lands the patient here,” says Bolin. “Phase Two is our rehabilitation center, which closely monitors the patient’s exercise program. The last is Phase Three, which is where we see the patient stepping off into independent exercise at our LiveWell Fitness Center. The cardiac rehab and fitness center team work closely together to transition cardiac rehab patients to a setting where patients can continue to maintain their healthy lifestyle.”

In the center’s first two months, it has already filled up serveral classes and are working on future plans that include expansion as the need grows for cardiac rehabilitation.

“So far, it’s been all word-of-mouth and the word has spread like wildfire,” says Bolin. “We could not be more pleased to see the response we’ve gotten from the community on this new addition to the South Lake Hospital campus.”