B.C. launches its first virtual cardiac rehab program at Vancouver hospital

In a B.C. first, cardiac rehab can now be accessed virtually through a program at Vancouver General Hospital.

B.C has launched the province’s first virtual cardiac rehab program at Vancouver General Hospital.

The virtual program will allow patients in rural and remote communities to access care without having to travel to the Lower Mainland.

Dr. Nathaniel Moulson, director of the VGH CardioRisk Clinic, will be leading the program.

“This care has been delivered in person, and so that can obviously lead to quite a few limitations on the ability to participate,” said Moulson.

Moulson and his team will monitor patients remotely through virtual care as they recover from surgery effectively from home.

Participants will be able to improve their health “through exercise therapy, nutritional intervention, dietary counselling, education and medical optimization,” he said.

The program is funded by the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation, and the Hometown Heroes lottery.

Moulson hopes it’s a step in advancing a more accessible technology-enabled future for health care in the province.

“This initial kind of feasibility project will serve as a model in order to enhance our ability to deliver virtual and cardiac rehabilitation care in general to patients,” he said.

Deo Sharma has been doing the program for six months after undergoing a bypass surgery last year.

“Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Sharma. “After surgery it helped me in many ways, like how to maintain your body and how to listen to your body and how your medications work.”