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For Immediate Release | For more information, contact: |
Owatonna Hospital’s Cardiac Rehab program awarded certificationOWATONNA, Minn. 08/25/2006--Owatonna Hospital’s Cardiac Rehab Department recently achieved the gold standard of excellence becoming an American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) Certified Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. To receive certification, the program had to meet rigorous standards in areas including safe exercise prescription, medical emergency preparedness, equipment maintenance, assessment and monitoring of patients during exercise, staff education and competency, and quality assurance outcomes monitoring. Reviews for certification are held every three years. Registered nurses Mary Trautman and Carleen Johnson at Owatonna Hospital’s Cardiac Rehab program provide heart patients a structured program of safe, monitored exercise, heart healthy food choices, stress reduction and goal setting. Earlier this year, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services expanded cardiac rehabilitation coverage up to 36 sessions for patients with coronary stenting, heart valve repair or replacement, and heart or heart/lung transplants. Patients who have experienced a heart attack, coronary artery bypass surgery or angina are also eligible to receive cardiac rehabilitation coverage. According to a recent scientific statement by the American Heart Association, the benefits of exercise-based rehabilitation are significant. The research findings show that average cardiac death was 26 percent lower in rehabilitation patients who were exercise-trained compared with those who received “usual care.” There were also 21 percent fewer nonfatal heart attacks, 13 percent fewer bypass surgeries and 19 percent fewer angioplasties in the exercise-trained people. About Owatonna Hospital The Owatonna Hospital, part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, is a not-for-profit hospital committed to providing quality, comprehensive care to patients in and around Steele County. Owatonna Hospital provides a full range of inpatient, outpatient and emergency care services, as well as home health and palliative care and hospice. A new 38-bed Owatonna Hospital will be will be connected to the current Owatonna Clinic-Mayo Health System 26th Street location, off Interstate 35, creating a healthcare campus. The $46 million facility will be designed to create an environment for providing high quality, safe, patient-centered care for residents in the Steele County area. Groundbreaking is tentatively slated for spring 2007 and completion early 2009. Owatonna Hospital’s services along with the latest health information can be found online at www.owatonnahospital.com. Owatonna Hospital and Allina Hospitals & Clinics are taking a leadership role to promote healthy eating and physical activity through their Heart Healthy Living and Obesity Initiatives with an emphasis on childhood obesity. Over the next five years, Allina and Owatonna Hospital will be working with community organizations to improve nutrition and increase physical activity to decrease obesity and improve heart health. ### |