Cardiac rehab after surgery or a cardiac event can help you regain strength and improve your quality of life. Research shows it can also:

• Help you stay independent and return to work and other daily activities

• Improve blood pressure, weight and blood sugar and cholesterol levels

• Increase your endurance and ability to exercise

• Lower your risk of future heart conditions, including heart attack or heart failure

• Reduce stress and help you quit smoking

• Reduce the likelihood of future hospital admissions

• Relieve symptoms like chest pain, fatigue and shortness of breath 
   

Your cardiac rehab plan may last several months and usually includes three phases. 

The first phase of cardiac rehabilitation begins in the hospital after a heart attack or heart procedure. Your care team supervises you as you walk the halls or climb stairs as part of a light exercise program.

Nurses and physical therapists provide education on topics such as:

• Details about your heart condition

• Healthy eating

• Medication management

• Risk factors for heart disease

• Sexual activity

• Work and daily activities

• Wound care (if you have had surgery)

When you leave the hospital, we provide a plan for safe, limited physical activity that you can do at home. About 2 to 6 weeks after discharge, you begin outpatient cardiac rehab with gradually intensifying exercises as your health improves.

In this second phase, the goals are to strengthen your heart, build your endurance and reduce cardiovascular risk factors. Your cardiac rehab program includes personalized nutrition counseling with our registered dietitians. We also offer supervised physical therapy with our exercise physiologists.

Common timeframes for sessions are:

• 36 sessions over 12 weeks for regular cardiac rehab

• 72 sessions over 12 to 18 weeks for intensive cardiac rehab

During each session, we monitor you closely to see how your heart responds to physical activity. We continue with education on a range of topics to support you in managing your health. You learn to monitor your heart rate and exertion levels during exercise. You can adjust your own program as you become more independent.

In the third phase, you advance to a more independent exercise program that still includes our supervision. We provide continuing support for healthy lifestyle habits. We monitor your heart rate and rhythm before, during and after exercise. Our exercise physiologists help you adjust exercises so you can do them at home.

You do not have to be in the hospital to join a cardiac rehabilitation program, but you do need a doctor’s referral. Your doctor may recommend cardiac rehab if you have had: 

• Cardiac surgery, such as coronary artery bypass graft surgery

• Coronary artery disease, heart failure or a heart attack

• Heart transplant

• Heart valve repair or replacement

• Minimally invasive heart procedure, such as an angioplasty

Medicare and most health insurance plans cover cardiac rehabilitation if you’ve experienced one of these events. Please check with your health insurance company to find out what your plan covers.