Cardiac Fitness & Rehabilitation
Welcome from the Director
The St. Francis Cardiac Fitness and Rehabilitation Center is the largest and longest-established program on Long Island. Our tradition of care began as a small program in 1978 at Roslyn High School and has grown over the past 30 years into an innovative, comprehensive program that treats the whole patient as they recover from a cardiac event. Cardiac fitness and rehabilitation isn’t just about exercise training. It’s about changing your lifestyle. We offer many medically-supervised programs that will help you re-enter your life whether you have recently suffered a cardiac event or if you are at high-risk for a cardiac event.
Cardiac Fitness & Rehabilitation
Cardiac Fitness & Rehabilitation - An Overview
Treating the whole person is the key to a patient’s recovery at our Cardiac Fitness and Rehabilitation Center. In our state-of-the-art facility at The DeMatteis Center in Greenvale, NY, participants exercise and participate in various physical activities under medical supervision to improve both their cardiac health and overall well-being.
Our goal is to help participants improve both physically and emotionally by reducing the risk of another cardiac event, or to keep a patient’s current cardiac health from getting worse.
We offer health counseling, a customized physical and exercise training program, a personalized plan to help patients modify their risk factors and of course, plenty of emotional support for the patient and their families.
Participants complete their personal plan in a class that is supervised by a physician, exercise physiologists and registered nurses. Classes are scheduled throughout the day for your convenience.
In addition, for overall optimal health, participants can take advantage of other services at St. Francis Hospital, such as diet and nutrition counseling, cholesterol screenings, smoking cessation clinics and CPR training, in conjunction with their tailor-made treatment plan.
Most major medical insurance plans offer full or partial reimbursement for our services. Now a new category of clients is eligible to reap the benefits of Cardiac Rehab. The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services has expanded coverage to include patients with stable, chronic heart failure. To find out if you qualify, call: (516) 629-2040.
Conditions Treated
The St. Francis Cardiac Fitness and Rehabilitation Center provides after-care for the following conditions:
- Heart Attack
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Chronic Heart Failure
- Peripheral Arterial Disease
- Stable Angina
- Cardiomyopathy
- Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
- Valve Replacement and Repair
- Coronary Stent and Angioplasty
- Heart Transplant
- Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) patients
A Two-Pronged Treatment Approach
Exercise:
Individualized plans include aerobic activity, resistance training, stretching and flexibility. Exercise is performed indoors in a climate-controlled setting and each class is supervised by a physician, exercise physiologists and registered nurses. Classes meet three times per week. Individually prescribed exercise is accomplished in group sessions.
Monitoring:
Each participant is under close surveillance with ECG testing and blood pressure monitoring. As treatment proceeds, exercise plans are evaluated based on progress and response. A health education plan is developed and evaluated on an ongoing basis to identify participant goals, needs and capabilities. It is through this process that participants will discover their strengths and deficiencies while adjusting their lifestyles for optimal health.
