Coming this fall to the Mercy Ambulatory Care Center in Orchard Park is a new program called Medical Fitness, being offered by Partners In Rehab & AthletiCare, part of Catholic Health. Medical Fitness will provide opportunities for people to participate in medically supervised exercise programs. Many people have medical conditions that do not fit into traditional therapy models or they have already been through a course of therapy and need to build on the progress they have made. The Medical Fitness program will work to establish group exercise classes to improve the health and well being of those clients.

In September, the initial Medical Fitness classes will focus on Cardio-pulmonary conditions and will be monitored by a Nurse Practitioner and Physical Therapists. After a heart attack or heart surgery, many people are in need of guidance and support to return to a healthier lifestyle. The Medical Fitness program will work to implement a prescribed exercise program using monitored telemetry. The wireless telemetry system will assist the clinicians in tracking the heart’s response to activity.

In addition to the exercise classes, clients will receive health education, including information on proper nutrition and smoking cessation.
Clients will typically participate in 24-36 group exercise sessions over two to three months. This will help establish a routine they can safely continue on their own after their participation in the formal program has ended. The group exercise sessions will also provide an opportunity to meet and connect with other people who are going through similar life experiences and for everyone to learn together.

In the months to follow more classes will be added to the Medical Fitness program, including:

• pulmonary conditions

• complex medical conditions, and

• general wellness.

If you would like to learn more about Medical Fitness, please call 716-447-6205.