St. Joseph’s cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs are recertified

SYRACUSE — St. Joseph’s Health announced that its cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs were recently recertified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) through August 2018. 

Programs that are certified by AACVPR participate in its national registry.

“Being part of the national registry allows us to compare our outcomes with other cardiac-pulmonary rehabilitation programs across the country,” Stephen Swierczek, director of respiratory care and cardiac-pulmonary rehabilitation at St. Joseph’s Health, said in a news release. “Our outcomes have been shown to be favorable as compared to those in the registry, and every year, we set goals to surpass our outcomes as part of our commitment to provide a higher level of care.”

St. Joseph’s Health is a nonprofit regional health-care system based in Syracuse, serving patients throughout Central New York and northern Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with Franciscan Companies and St. Joseph’s Physicians and is part of the Trinity Health system.

AACVPR, based in Chicago, describes itself as a multidisciplinary professional association comprised of health professionals who work in the field of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. Members include cardiovascular and pulmonary physicians, nurses, exercise physiologists, physical therapists, behavioral scientists, respiratory therapists, dieticians, and nutritionists.