Samaritan set to launch cardiac rehab program

MOSES LAKE — Thanks in part to a $105,000 donation from the Samaritan Healthcare Foundation, the hospital is gearing up to launch a new cardiac rehabilitation program this spring.

At the Samaritan Board of Commissioners meeting this week, representatives from the Foundation were on hand to present the hospital with the check for $105,000, which it raised through fundraising efforts over the last year. Gretchen Youngren, the hospital’s director of development and communications, said the Foundation set out to raise the money to fund the hospital’s purchase of special cardiac rehab equipment so it could offer those services in Moses Lake.

The need for cardiac rehabilitation services locally was significant, Youngren said, so the hospital Foundation set out to raise money to fill that local healthcare void.

“We have an estimated 125 local patients each year who go to receive this care and go through this therapy program. They have to go to either Wenatchee, Tri-Cities or Spokane,” she said. “There really is a strong patient need.”

Traveling for this cardiac rehabilitation program is more problematic than it may seem on the surface. Youngren said the program spans 36 visits, meaning 36 trips to and from out-of-town hospitals for local patients who require this care.

“If you’re having to drive two hours each way, the chance of you actually finishing this lifesaving program are pretty slim,” Youngren said. “This is something that has been needed in our community.”

Youngren said cardiac rehab used to be offered at Samaritan some 10 or 15 years ago, but it was dissolved for some reason or another. Last year at its annual dinner banquet, the Samaritan Foundation set out to help bring the program back by providing substantial funding through fundraising efforts. The Foundation set a $100,000 fundraising goal at its dinner last March — the approximate cost of the equipment needed for the cardiac rehabilitation program.

Over the course of the year, the Foundation was able to meet and exceed its goal. Its major fundraising took place at the dinner event last March and the hospital’s golf tournament fundraiser in September. In addition, Youngren said there were more than 125 generous community partners and businesses, as well as 240 Samaritan employees, who chipped in to fulfill the fundraising goal.

Tuesday night, Youngren and a collection of other Foundation representatives presented the oversized $105,000 check to the hospital’s Board of Commissioners.

The sizable donation essentially solidified Samaritan’s goal to bring back the cardiac rehab program. Youngren said the equipment costs for the program were listed at almost exactly $100,000, so the Foundation’s donation will cover those costs. She said the hospital has also already gone about hiring staff for the cardiac care program and has also started a renovation to its physical structure to accommodate the new program.

The program is set to hit the ground running sometime this spring, Youngren said, with an open house event that will be scheduled to precede its launch.