Over 7,000 patients have benefitted from the Cardiac Wellness program over the last 25 years.
Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare celebrated the program that offers care, education, exercise, and ongoing support to patients who experience a cardiac event.
"We know the outcome benefit of cardiac rehab in terms of reducing the risk of a second event, staying alive longer, but certainly the social aspect was something that I'd say was unexpected, and a lot of our patients become good friends and continue to hang out with each other after they graduate," said Dr. Martin McFarlane, Medical Director for the program.
The program supports around 400 patients each week.
Program graduate Sonya Vani says even though she led a very healthy lifestyle before her cardiac event, the program really helped her get back on track.
"Having the education sessions, I knew what to look for, my diet changes that might need to be made, and they helped guide and supervise my exercise so I could get back to running long distance again," said Vani.
The Cardiac Wellness program now operates out of three locations: the Petro Family Exercise Centre, the Leamington Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Complex and the Bob Probert Tecumseh campus.
