Heartfelt healing: How Cardiac Rehab transforms lives through exercise

By Emma Avila, epackard1@iuhealth.org, writer for IU Health's Metro Region

IU Health West’s Cardiac Rehabilitation program helps patients recover from cardiac events through personalized exercise and education, fostering a supportive and engaging environment led by dedicated team members like exercise physiologist Jeremy Kimbley.

If you’re walking the halls outside of Cardiac Rehabilitation at IU Health West, it’s not uncommon to hear the hum of exercise equipment. However, you will likely also hear laughter or a lively conversation, two things not necessarily associated with working out.

Cardiac Rehabilitation is an exercise and education program for those who have undergone cardiac events, such as a heart attack, a stent replacement or even open-heart surgery.

“We are really designed to try to strengthen the heart after they've had their event. So, after someone's had some type of cardiac event, we are then trying to prevent a secondary event,” said Jeremy Kimbley, exercise physiologist and team lead for the department.

Kimbley has been with IU Health West for over a decade. His journey to his role as an exercise physiologist began in college, where he thought he wanted to be an orthodontist and then a high school teacher. However, early in his schooling, a professor offhandedly mentioned something called cardiac rehab, and it immediately sparked his interest.

“I was like, ‘This is it. This is what I want to do,’” he said.

Kimbley is one of two exercise physiologists on the Cardiac Rehabilitation team at IU Health West.

“What an exercise physiologist does is take basic functions of physiology of the body and apply those to how your body changes with exercise,” Kimbley explained. “So, we’re really looking at normal changes of heart rates, normal changes of blood pressure, and tailoring exercise programs to the individual on what's going to be most beneficial for them.”

Along with exercise physiologists, the team consists of a registered nurse and respiratory therapist. While the team focuses on each patient’s health, they also converse with the patients and really get to know them.

“I genuinely think that we have the right people in place and where they need to be,” Kimbley said. “Another thing is we want to make an atmosphere that is fun and not intimidating, because not everybody likes to exercise. The majority of the people who come here don't want to exercise, so we make sure that they're comfortable with what we're doingand they know they're safe.”

For Kimbley, the joy of the job comes from making a difference in patients’ lives.

“The thing that motivates me are the patients who see significant changes. The patients who have never been exercisers, they completely change their lifestyle to get healthier and create an opportunity for them to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible.”

If you have questions about how IU Health West’s cardiac rehab program could benefit you, you can call 317.217.2983.