Northern Santa Barbara County residents recovering from heart surgery or various other medical procedures now have a facility in which they can rehabilitate.
Located across the street from Marian Medical Center, in what used to be a car dealership, the Marian Health and Wellness Center offers cardiac/pulmonary rehab services, as well as physical, occupational, and speech therapy to the hospital’s patients.
The center, which had its grand opening on March 30, is split in two, with special equipment on both sides for addressing internal or external ailments. On the cardiac/pulmonary rehabilitation services side, several dozen cardiac machines are grouped around a nurse’s station equipped with a telemetry system.
“When people come in we hook them up to a heart monitor,” said Penny Popp, a registered nurse and co-supervisor of cardiac services. “It’s like an EKG, but it only looks at one part of the heart.”
The telemetry system can monitor nearly a dozen people at a time, allowing them to exercise in a safe environment.
“It’s a lot different than someone just going to the gym by himself,” said Pam Cancilla, also a registered nurse and co-supervisor. “It gives them their confidence back.”
Using the telemetry system, nurses are able to track recovering patients’ heart rhythms to ensure they’re within a healthy range.
The technology turned out to be a lifesaver for Bob Taber. Last year, Taber was participating in the center’s three-month rehabilitative program after having a triple bypass.
“At the end of the second month, I came in like usual to exercise,” Taber told the Sun. “They checked my heart rate, and it was very low. The nurse grabbed a wheelchair and wheeled me fast across the street to the ER.”
The doctors at the ER kept Taber overnight and installed a pacemaker the next day.
“He was doing great exercising. And then one day he came in and said, ‘I don’t feel very good today. I feel tired,” said Kelley Barragan, Taber’s assigned registered nurse at the time.
Supervisor Popp said cardiac patients go through three different phases. The first phase begins when the person is still in the hospital. A center nurse will visit the patient and discuss the rehabilitation process. During the second phase, patients come to the center three times a week for three months to undergo intensive rehabilitation. The third phase kicks in when the patient is able to exercise on his or her own. Also, nurses and dieticians frequently visit the center to discuss healthy eating habits, stress management, and other health-care issues.
On the physical and occupational therapy side sit several therapy tables, balance equipment, and other therapy machines. And in a back conference room, there’s even a Wii.
“The Wii therapy is for all ages, but it’s especially for our pediatric patients,” physical and occupational therapist Ron Prober said. “You could tell them to do a certain exercise 20 times and they get bored. But they’ll do the same motion over and over again when they play the Wii because it’s a game.”
Other forms of therapy offered at the center include some wound care, lymphedema and other cancer-related rehabilitative therapy, neurological therapy for patients recovering from strokes and head injuries, and speech therapy. The center also has a certified hand therapist on staff.
“[The center] is one of the few places in town that does everything,” Prober said. “We’re still able to offer the same services we did at the old location, but now we’ve expanded our capacity.”
For more information about the new Marian Health and Wellness Center, including services provided, visit marianmedicalcenter.org.
This article appears in Apr 7-14, 2011.