With a cut of the ribbon, St. Mary’s marks huge milestone for Cardiac Rehabilitation program
Kitchener, Ont. – St. Mary’s General Hospital is pleased to announce that we have formally cut the ribbon on a brand-new facility that will house our Cardio-Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinic program. The new space features a walking track which will allow us to increase equitable access to care for patients with mobility issues. The clinic also has in-house stress testing, in-person and virtual hybrid programming and an accessible location at Medical Centre 2, 435 The Boardwalk. The space is more than 16,000 square feet and will serve between 300 and 500 patients per year using a variety of program methods, both on-site and virtual.
The Cardio-Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinic provides care for people with cardiovascular conditions. Cardiac rehab is an evidence-based program to assist people with achieving a heart-healthy lifestyle through exercise and education around risk factors. Read more about the program by clicking here.
“This is an incredible step as we reimagine the possibilities of these programs,” said Program Director Andrea Lemberg. “With more services available on-site and online, as well as an easy-to-get-to location along a bus route, this is a major milestone as we continue to work towards implementing the priorities of our Strategic Plan.”
The program has gone mostly virtual since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The new space will be ideally suited to include virtual and in-person programming to make it more accessible to our community and allow us to see more patients. With the ribbon-cutting complete, we expect to be able to see patients in late August or early September.
“We couldn’t be more thankful to our community for their support in this project,” said St. Mary’s General Hospital President Lee Fairclough. “This upgrade has come to life after years of consultation, generous donation and an incredible amount of collaboration, with much of the physical transformation taking place despite the pandemic.”
St. Mary’s would like to extend a huge thank you to all of those who were able to help make this vision a reality: the Voisin family, Danny Veniott, Craig Robinson, the entire cardiac rehab team and Drs. Matt Chamberlain, Heather Warren and Brian McNamara, as well as countless others.
About St. Mary’s General Hospital
St. Mary’s General Hospital, in Kitchener, is the second-largest acute care hospital in the St. Joseph’s Health System and one of Canada’s top Regional Cardiac Care Centres. Nearly 2,000 staff, physicians and volunteers provide innovative, compassionate care to approximately one million residents of Waterloo Wellington and beyond. Key areas of clinical focus include cardiac care, respiratory care and thoracic surgery, outpatient day surgery, general medicine and emergency care.
Media Contact
Chase Banger (he/him)
Communications Specialist, St. Mary’s General Hospital
(226) 336-9147 | cbanger@smgh.ca