For the last few years, Pocahontas Memorial Hospital has steadily been working towards developing a comprehensive Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program. The department received a major improvement this past summer with additional new space within the hospital and obtaining various exercise equipment. In November, the department announced the availability of Exercise Stress Tests. And now, the department proudly announces the addition of Exercise Physiologist, Charles Kinnison, to their team to lead exciting new services in Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation.
Pocahontas Memorial Hospital’s new Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation is a medically supervised program composed of exercise and education. This program helps establish healthy habits and provides modification of factors that will improve the quality of life in those with cardiac related events or procedures. The addition of these new services at PMH is a huge win for the county. Many residents over the years who would have benefitted from cardiac rehab after a procedure have gone without it, due to the travel involved to obtain such services.
Cardiac Rehab is for anyone who has been diagnosed with heart disease (including stableangina or heart failure); or those who have had a heart procedure or heart surgery (including coronary artery bypass graft, angioplasty with or without stenting, heart valve replacement or repair, pacemakeror implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation, or heart transplant).
Patients need a physician’s referral to participate in Cardiac Rehabilitation.
Kinnison is a Pocahontas County native and received his Master of Science from WVU School of Medicine’s Division of Exercise Physiology in 2002. He has multiple years of experience in exercise physiology, both with Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and with fitness assessments of healthy and at-risk populations in the cooperate wellness setting. Charles enjoys helping people improve their quality of life through PMH’s cardiac and pulmonary programs.
To obtain treatment through PMH’s Outpatient Cardiac Rehab program, please fax provider orders to 304-799-0835. Questions may be directed to Charles via email at ckinnison@pmhwv.org or phone 304-799-7400 ext 1052.
