Expansion of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center
The Galilee Medical Center seeks to upgrade and expand the scope of 

its professional cardiac rehabilitation services, purchase essential

equipment and invest in professional staff

Background

A cardiac event is a traumatic experience which may arouse anxiety and raise questions

about the patient’s ability to resume normal functions. Cardiologists advise all patients

to undergo a rehabilitation program following a cardiac event, so that they will be able to

resume optimal functioning in their daily lives – physically, mentally, and socially.

Cardiac rehabilitation is a customized outpatient program designed to help improve health

following a heart attack, heart disease or surgery to treat heart disease. It often involves

exercise training, emotional support and education about lifestyle changes to reduce heart

disease risk in the future, such as eating a heart-healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight

and quitting smoking. Research has found that cardiac rehabilitation programs can reduce

the risk of death from heart disease and reduce the risk of future heart problems.

The Galilee Medical Center seeks to upgrade and expand the scope of

its professional cardiac rehabilitation services, purchase essential

equipment and invest in professional staff

Expansion of the Cardiac

Rehabilitation Center

The Department of Cardiology at the Galilee Medical Center (GMC) offers advanced cardiac

diagnostic tests and therapeutic procedures to a diverse population. It provides a range

of services and treatments that are not available elsewhere in the region, including an

Arrhythmia Center and Cardiac Catheterization Center. Nearly 3,000 patients are admitted

to the Intensive Coronary Care Unit (ICCU) and Intermediate Coronary Care Unit yearly.

The Department is ranked third in Israel for the number of patients receiving urgent

catheterizations (PCI), and the low rate of complications reflects the team's professionalism,

skill and proficiency.

Since November 2016, the Galilee Medical Center has been offering very limited cardiac

rehabilitation. The demand for these services is high and there are very few other

professional cardiac rehab centers in the region to meet the demand. As part of the GMC’s

mission to better serve the local population and improve overall health, the hospital would

like to expand its facilities and its cardiac rehab staff in order to help significantly more

people recover after experiencing a heart-related medical condition.

Israel’s National Health Law stipulates that people who undergo the following procedures are

eligible for subsidized cardiac rehabilitation: coronary bypass surgery, valve replacement

surgery, defibrillator implant surgery and angioplasty (stent implant), as well as patients

who had heart attacks or have stage 2 or 3 congestive heart failure.

The Rehabilitation Program

The GMC’s professional cardiac rehab program includes supervised physical training

according to a personalized plan. The team consists of a cardiac ICU nurse, a nutritionist,

a social worker, a doctor and a physical therapist. There is often a one-hour lecture by a

member of the professional team before each physical training session.

At the beginning of each three-month cycle, the new group of patients spends a day together

at the GMC Heart Institute, where they meet the cardiac rehab team (doctor, nurse, and

physical therapist). On that day, the team conducts one-on-one conversations with each

patient to obtain a complete medical history and to carry out a general check-up, including

vital signs, EKG, stress test, and a cardiogram if necessary. At the end of the day, the team

develops a personalized training program for each participant.

The Goal

The goal is to increase the Center’s scope of activity to four full days a week. Four different

groups of patients will be scheduled each day. This will enable the hospital to triple its

capability and provide cardiac rehab services to approximately 160 patients a week.

Each group will consist of ten patients who meet twice a week, for 1.5 hours each session.

During each session, in addition to a full hour of physical training, the professional staff will

measure their vital signs, connect them to a telemetry or heart rate monitor, and assess

their pain, problems and level of motivation.

The rehab team will meet once a week to discuss patients’ progress, build training

programs for new participants and become acquainted with their medical history and

social conditions. This day will also include lectures by members of the team.

Required Equipment and Staff

In order to expand the GMC’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Center, the following new medical

equipment must be acquired: a resuscitation trolley and defibrillator, a glucometer with

accessories, a telemetry station that includes eight telemetries, and three blood pressure

monitors. In addition, the following exercise machines must be purchased: five NuStep

Recumbent Cross Trainers, five treadmills, 10 pneumatic weight machines, 20 weights and

10 mats.

Additional needed items that are currently lacking include: a treatment bed, two computer

stations, furniture such as a table and chairs, a kitchenette/staff room, a small meeting

room for lectures, and other basic equipment.

About Galilee Medical Center

Galilee Medical Center (GMC) is a government-owned general hospital that was established

shortly after the founding of the State of Israel in Nahariya in the Western Galilee. Today

it is the sole medical center in the region, serving a diverse population of 600,000 Jews,

Moslems, Christians and Druze – civilians and soldiers.

GMC’s strategic location, a mere six miles from the hostile Lebanese border, requires it

to maintain the highest standards of preparedness in case of emergency situations. The

hospital must always be ready to provide advanced treatment for multiple casualty events

involving both civilian and military populations. During the Second Lebanon War of 2006,

the Medical Center suffered a direct hit from a missile, and numerous lives were saved

thanks to the fact that the hospital had transferred its activities to its fortified underground

facilities, the first and only one of its kind in Israel at that time.

Galilee Medical Center received international acknowledgment for its professional and

humane treatment of 3,000 wounded Syrians – 70% of all the victims who were brought to

Israel in order to receive humanitarian aid during the bloody civil war in Syria.

In recent years, GMC has undergone an unprecedented overhaul: dozens of new departments

and new medical services were inaugurated, some in fields that were previously unavailable

to residents of the periphery. These include the new neurosurgery department; the cerebral

angiography unit; head surgery; oral and maxillofacial specialists, and others.

In addition to being the largest surgical center in the Galilee, GMC is the principal teaching

hospital for the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, training approximately

two-thirds of its medical students.

For more information, contact

Talia Zaks, Director of Donor Relations, Friends of Galilee Medical Center,

Tel. +972-53-4222310 | [email protected]

Cost

The Galilee Medical Center is seeking $760,000 in funding in order to cover the cost of

expanding the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center and for purchasing equipment.