MOUNT AIRY, N.C. – May 11, 2017 – People living in the communities surrounding Surry County will have access to the state’s leading care in cardiac rehabilitation thanks to a partnership Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and Northern Hospital of Surry County announced today.
Wake Forest Baptist is known for setting the standard of care for cardiac rehabilitation in North Carolina. The Medical Center started the first cardiac rehabilitation program in the state.
“As one of the longest-standing cardiac rehabilitation programs, our team of experts has helped thousands of patients recover from heart attack, heart surgery and heart failure,” said David Zhao, M.D., chief of cardiovascular medicine and executive director of Wake Forest Baptist’s Heart and Vascular Center. “We offer outpatient rehabilitation programs designed to help you improve your daily life and maintain your independence, and we are thankful for the partnership with Northern Hospital to offer this level of service to their community.”
The newly installed treadmills are already humming on the third floor at Northern Hospital, where earlier this month the first patients were admitted to the Northern Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation program.
“We are excited to utilize the expertise of Wake Forest Baptist in getting our program at Northern up and running,” said Brian Beasley, vice president of clinic operations, Northern Hospital. “Numerous residents of Mount Airy and surrounding communities are already traveling to Winston-Salem for their cardiac rehab services, and these patients can now be served right here at home.”
Cardiac rehabilitation is a program of exercise, education, counseling and learning designed to help people with heart disease make needed changes for a healthier lifestyle. Participating in a cardiac rehab program allows for quicker recovery from heart attack, heart-related surgery or other heart disease. The ultimate goal is to enable patients with cardiac disorders to resume active and productive lives.
Patients enrolled in cardiac rehab typically attend the program two to three times a week. For local residents, a 60-mile round trip taken several times a week is time consuming, tiring, and expensive. All of these factors can result in some patients failing to finish their prescribed treatment plan. Local residents may now come to Northern where they are closer to home and more easily able to see their program to completion.
Enthusiasm for the new program is evident. Before the doors officially opened at the beginning of May, over twenty referrals had already been received from cardiologists throughout the region including offices in Mount Airy and Winston-Salem; with more referrals arriving daily.
Northern Hospital Foundation applied for a grant to receive the initial funds needed for construction of the new cardiac rehabilitation department. The hospital was generously awarded $250,000 from The Duke Endowment.
Northern Hospital will host an open house and ribbon cutting on Friday, May 19th at 3 p.m. Cardiac Rehabilitation is located on the third floor at Northern Hospital. For more information on the program, call 336-783-8448 or visit here.
About Northern Hospital
Northern Hospital of Surry County, a 133-bed hospital, is an independently operated, award winning facility with a number of outpatient service locations including physician specialists, pharmacy, and fitness center. Northern Medical Group is the hospital’s network of primary care and specialty providers delivering a comprehensive array of services to meet the needs of the community. Northern Hospital is a certified Stroke Center of Excellence and is recognized for distinction in patient safety, receiving consistent honors of a Grade “A” Hospital Safety Score from The Leapfrog Group. The state-of-the art Surgery Center houses a wide range of inpatient and outpatient procedures including orthopedics, ENT, gynecology, gastroenterology, urological, surgeries of the eye, and other general surgeries. Founded in 1957, Northern Hospital is located in Mount Airy, North Carolina and serves the northwest Piedmont region of NC and neighboring counties in southwest Virginia. For more information visit www.northernhospital.com.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (www.wakehealth.edu) is a nationally prominent academic medical center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with an integrated enterprise incorporating hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers and other primary and specialty care facilities that serve the residents of 24 counties in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia. The Medical Center’s divisions are Wake Forest Baptist Health, a regional clinical system that includes Brenner Children’s Hospital and more than 150 locations, 900 physicians and 1,000 acute care beds; Wake Forest School of Medicine, a recognized leader in cutting-edge research and experiential medical education; and Wake Forest Innovations, which commercializes the discoveries and research capabilities of the Medical Center and operates Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, an urban district devoted to driving regional economic growth and building vibrant community. Wake Forest Baptist clinical, research and educational programs are consistently rated among the best in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
