WHEATLAND – Many months in the making, the plans for a cardiopulmonary rehab department finally came to fruition at Banner Health in Wheatland Nov. 16.

There was a special ribbon cutting ceremony at Platte Memorial Hospital where medical people, patients and members of the community came together to see the new equipment and to be briefed on the history and what this unit will mean to the community.

Essentially, what the department will feature is a monitored exercise program that will help people improve their heart and lung functions with certain diseases or after surgical procedures.

“That way they can learn what lifestyle habits are needed and to improve what they can themselves,” Brittany Lewis said  “These things can help themselves live a better and more comfortable life.”

It is kind of an ongoing maintenance program that will promote healthy habits to strengthen their bodies. To be eligible to participate in this program, prospective patients would have to talk with their provider to see if the list of qualifiers is something they would be fit into. Some of those who would be qualified are heart attack patients, those who have had Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) surgery,  COPD or pulmonary disease to name a few. A provider referral would be needed to be able to use the cardiopulmonary exercise equipment.

“I just can’t see people randomly,” she said. “The hours are going to be Monday-Thursday, 7:30-4:30. I will have different classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.”

Right now the department has four different machines that can be used by patients. The department itself is connected to the physical therapy department and has its own space.

“Aferward treatment, if anyone has any muscular skeletal issues, they can go into physical therapy,” she said. “They can work on those needs to improve those areas as well.”

Jacob Lee who is a leader in the Physical Therapy Department led the cutting of the ribbon and spoke on some of the things that the department would offer.

“One of the excellent things about our program compared to other programs, is most of them, they are kind of separated (from the physical therapy department),” Lee said. “There, you will go and do your cardiac or pulmonary rehab and then you will go and work with a totally different group somewhere else. Where we have a smooth transition all the way through.”

The machines in the cardiopulmonary unit are a treadmill, an upright bike and a recumbent bike and an arm bike. There are also free weights. All patients will be assessed and then given a program to follow.

“So they will come in and do a five to 10-minute warm-up, about 10-minutes of weights, and I will teach them total body weights,” Lewis said. “And then roughly about 20-30 minutes a machine and they can take breaks as needed, and then they will do a cool down. Education is a huge part of the program here too. Nutrition, lifestyle changes, tobacco cessation, medication – we will do a cool down and education at the end.”

As to how the program finally got going, Lee said, “When I was approached by Taylor, I was like, it’s about time. Once we finally got the approval, you could just feel that excitement coming. So it’s been a long time coming and being that we have Brittany here with us, I’m totally confident in her abilities to be able to help the community out. It’s obviously not Wheatland community, but it’s all around. We’re talking all the way out to Glendo and even Laramie. It’s so much nicer. I’ve heard so many people say that they’ve had to travel to Douglas and Cheyenne through all the cruddy weather. So now, being in our community, it’s a big positive point. I’m really excited to be able to have this here.”