Heart Failure Prevention
& Cardiac Rehab

When people have broken hearts, it's great to know a comprehensive and experienced heart care team is close by.

Intermountain Healthcare's nationally-recognized heart failure prevention and treatment program provides a full range of treatment options for patients with heart failure, coronary artery disease, or high risk of heart problems. Options include things like medication, lifestyle coaching, and rehabilitation. The program works in conjunction with the Utah Artificial Heart Program and the Intermountain's transplant services. At its new home in the J.L. Sorenson Heart and Lung Center at Intermountain Medical Center, Intermountain's heart program has all the facilities and specialists a broken heart could need all under one roof.

How does care begin for patients who suffer from heart failure?

Intermountain is a national leader in treating heart failure patients and offers a number of services that contribute to the best possible outcomes for heart patients.

Nearly every person with heart failure starts with a treatment plan that includes medication and lifestyle management. Finding the right medications and dosages for each patient can be tricky, but it is a crucial component of managing heart failure.

Cardiac rehabilitation is a key to recovery

Every patient who comes into the heart and lung center for cardiac testing and diagnosis passes by the outpatient rehabilitation facility, where they can observe patients working to strengthen or recondition their hearts or getting back into shape after heart surgery or procedures.

For people who've had transplants, open-heart surgery, or other inpatient procedures, inpatient rehabilitation is available in the cardiovascular units, just a few steps away from patient rooms. In fact, those steps are generally the first phase of rehabilitation.

How the rehabilitation center helps people stay motivated

Once a patient can walk 350 feet, roughly the length of the halls in the cardiovascular inpatient units, they're allowed into the class in one of the inpatient rehab areas. There they can try a treadmill, a recumbent stepper, or actual stairs while they are monitored.

Once patients are discharged, their rehab continues in the outpatient rehabilitation center downstairs. Exercise is central to the lifestyle changes heart failure patients need to adopt. Immediately after surgery it helps to prevent blood clots and keep the lungs clear. The goal is to provide a seamless transition from inpatient to outpatient to independence.