Heart and Lung Center

Heart disease remains the number one cause of death in the U.S. Fortunately, advances in diagnosing and treating heart and lung problems and an increasing awareness of the importance of exercise and diet continue to improve the outlook

South Texas Regional Medical Center’s new Heart & Lung Center focuses on providing the latest treatment solutions by employing a variety of non-invasive procedures to examine and evaluate heart function. The center is staffed 24 hours by certified technicians who conduct numerous inpatient and outpatient services. At the Center, our goal is that we serve every patient that comes to our Hospital in a manner that is convenient to our customers. We want to bring the service to the patient whenever possible, and avoid having the patient walk to multiple areas for services.

Health Resources:

Heart Disease is the biggest health risk Americans face today. If you don’t have heart disease now, you can help prevent it. If you’ve already been diagnosed with heart disease, you can keep it from getting worse.

Video: Cardiac Rehabilitation Physical activity is healthy for your heart—even after you've had a heart attack or bypass surgery. In this video, you'll learn what's involved in cardiac rehab and how it can benefit your health in the long term.

Available diagnostic tools include:

• Electrocardiogram (EKG)
• Electroencephalogram (EEG)
• Echocardiogram
• Stress Test
• Nuclear Stress Test
• Pulmonary Function Test
• Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE)
• Diagnostic Catheterization Lab
• Nuclear Medicine Camera
• Holter Monitoring and Event Monitoring
• Vascular Ultrasound
• Carotid Doppler Ultrasound
• ABG and CBG Testing
• Respiratory syncytial viruses

Heart & Lung Center services include:

• Cardiology consultation
• The STRMC Laboratory, capable of running the latest blood work to determine heart injury
• Telemetry and Intensive Care Units, capable of monitoring and treating patients with chest pain and/or heart disease
• Cardiac and Pulmonary Outpatient Rehabilitation, which can be obtained through a physician’s order from a cardiologist, pulmonologist or family physician
• Pacemaker replacement

CARDIAC/PULMONARY REHAB: It’s the heart of the matter

For people who have had heart problems, cardiac rehabilitation can help people them recover and live active and healthy lives. That’s where the South Texas Regional Medical Center (STRMC) cardiac rehabilitation program comes in. Located in the new STRMC Heart & Lung Center, the program offers the skills and knowledge heart patients need to reach their full potential. We provide professional guidance and medical supervision to assist patients and their families.

With a physician referral, patients enter the outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program, which consists of scheduled, individually prescribed exercise sessions for one hour, three times a week for a 12-week period. Patients are monitored on telemetry during exercise. Educational sessions instruct patients about heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, benefits of exercise, smoking cessation, diet and nutrition. The entire program is supervised by a cardiac rehabilitation registered nurse with Advanced Cardiac Life Support certification. The personal physician is informed of the patient’s progress.

As an added service, STRMC’s cardiac rehabilitation program has established a Healthy Hearts support group for patients with heart-related diagnoses. The group’s goal is to provide education, coping strategies and emotional support. The support group meets on the first Thursday of each month.

The center also provides Pulmonary Rehabilitation for those patients who have a chronic respiratory disease. Pulmonary Rehab’s main objectives are to control, reduce, and alleviate the symptoms and complications of chronic pulmonary diseases and to train patients how to achieve the highest level of independent functioning.

Learn more!
For more information about how the STRMC’s Heart & Lung Center can help you, call 830-769-3513.