MOSES LAKE — Patients who enroll in an exercise rehabilitation program after suffering cardiovascular troubles now have an option in Moses Lake. Samaritan Healthcare showed off its new cardio rehabilitation department at an open house recently.

Buying cardio rehab equipment was the focus of the 2015 Samaritan Healthcare Foundation fundraising drive, and the foundation surpassed its goal, said Gretchen Youngren, the hospital’s director of development and communication. The foundation raised $107,000, which paid for treadmills, stationary bikes, weights and the armodometer, and a wireless system that allows constant monitoring of patients while they’re exercising.

Samaritan Healthcare paid the cost of remodeling the space, about $43,000, said Margie Milbrandt, respiratory care/cardio rehab director.

“Top of the line,” Milbrandt said. The cardio rehab center is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday and can accommodate up to eight patients at a time, Alan Roy said. Roy is one of two employees who monitor patients. Many program last about 12 weeks, Milbrandt said.

Patients can keep coming back for exercise after their rehab is completed, but that’s a private pay program, she said.

Exercise programs are designed for each patient. Roy said. Participants must be referred by a physician.

The room has a couple of stationary bikes and treadmills and a recumbent stair climber, which is the same motion as a stair climber but allows patients to sit down. (It’s easier on the joints, Roy said.) The armodometer is “just for the arms,” Roy said, and looks like bicycle pedals. There is a wall pulley system and a set of weights.

Patients are monitored on a state-of-the-art wireless system that keeps track of heart rates and other vital signs.

“Our goal here is to get people back to the way they were before their event. Or better,” Roy said. The program also includes education classes, featuring subjects like diet and post-rehab exercise, sleep and stress management. “How to really implement those changes in your life,” he said. The education program also is tailored to the patient. “What do you want to learn more about?”

“It took about a year and a half to get to this point,” Milbrandt said. “A lot of research. A lot of talking to people. A lot of site visits.” There was a cardio rehab program at the hospital in about 2000, but it closed after a couple years. The response to this program has been “overwhelming, actually,” from the community, hospital staff, physicians, Samaritan administration and other facilities in the region, she said.

Prior to opening the rehab program at Samaritan, the nearest options were in Wenatchee, Tri-Cities and Spokane, Milbrandt said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].