COLUMBUS — When Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden temporarily paused its cardiac rehab program at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in late March 2020, patients in the program, who were all recovering from some type of heart-related event, were encouraged to continue their exercises at home.
Most of the patients complied and did not lose any forward momentum they had made from their in person classes, according to Kayla Pruitt, director of the hospital’s cardiology services. But, she added, it was imperative to get these patients back into the live classes as soon as possible, while keeping their safety as the top priority.
“They are a vulnerable population. We want to protect them from the risk of COVID-19, but it was important to get them back into rehab as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Julius Kato, invasive cardiologist and medical director of the cardiac rehab program.
The department was closed to patients for about six weeks during the height of the pandemic, with no patients allowed in the department. Before it re-opened mid-May, Pruitt said her team initiated stringent cleaning and decontamination guidelines that are currently still in place along with strict social distancing.
Under normal operations, the program can accommodate 12 patients per class or 72 patients per day. But, due to COVID-19, it is currently operating at slightly more than half capacity at 43 patients per day. That gives more time between the six daily, one-hour classes so the staff can deep clean equipment between classes and allows more space between patients.
“We consistently maintain social distancing and follow masking and enhanced cleaning guidelines,” Pruitt explained.
Cardiac rehab is often the difference between a cardiac patient fully recovering from a cardiac event such as a heart attack, bypass or valve replacement surgery or stent placement and a patient’s repeated readmission to the hospital and months of prolonged recuperation.
An individualized program is developed for each patient with a goal to improve his or her functional capacity by 15 percent by the time they finish the program. The average patient attends 36 classes over a 12-week period, Pruitt explained. In 2019, 98 percent of patients graduated the program having reached at least 15 percent of their functional capacity goal, Pruitt said.
Functional capacity is monitored consistently along with a patient’s vital signs. Each patient is also monitored for depression, which is common after certain cardiac events such as bypass surgery and the patient is referred to counseling if needed, Pruitt said. The program also provides nutrition and tobacco cessation counseling for those who can benefit from those services.
For more information, call 662-244-1219, visit http://goldentriangle.baptistonline.org or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Baptistgoldentriangle.
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