Santé Health Foundation and The Heart Group presented a record $150,000 donation Tuesday to Saint Agnes Medical Center, the largest gift of its kind directed toward the hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation and Lifestyle Program.
The donation will support patients recovering from heart attacks, bypass surgeries, valve procedures and other cardiovascular conditions through medically supervised exercise, education and lifestyle counseling.
“This is going to go a long way in improving the rehab facility here, in updating the equipment that we have right now, both for the exercise as well as the monitoring devices that we have for our patients,” said Dr. Gurvinder Kaur, president and market leader of Saint Agnes Medical Center.
The check was presented to Kaur during a ceremony attended by leaders from Santé Health Foundation and The Heart Group alongside Saint Agnes colleagues and hospital leadership.
Saint Agnes established the program in 1979 as the first cardiac rehabilitation program of its kind in the Valley. It was later recognized and certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation as the first such program in the region.
The program includes up to 36 EKG-monitored visits supervised by registered nurses and exercise physiologists, combining structured exercise with education in nutrition, stress management and long-term heart-healthy habits.
“We help the doctors practice with the patient and leave the administrative part of it to us,” said Santé Executive Director Scott Wells. “I think that combination is really getting the most we can out of every physician in the Fresno area.”
