Protesters: 'Save our rehab' site

CARDIAC: Patients blast decision to close heart-care center.

TARZANA - Nearly 100 heart surgery patients blasted Providence Tarzana Medical Center officials Wednesday for their decision to shut down a valued cardiac rehabilitation program at the hospital.

Shouting "Save our rehab" during a community meeting at the facility, patients, mostly senior citizens, told Providence Tarzana CEO Dale Surowitz that they relied on the nurses and supervised care and would be hard-pressed to find similar programs elsewhere in the San Fernando Valley.

"We're here because we want to live," said Ruth Drucker, 86, who underwent heart surgery 10 years ago.

"The way we do that is we listen to what our doctors tell us and they tell us to come here.

"Don't shut this down," she told Surowitz. "It will make a dark mark on the hospital."

Years before Providence Health Services assumed ownership of the Tarzana hospital, the cardiac rehabilitation program was established to provide outpatient cardiac care to those who had undergone heart surgery. After surgery, patients enter Phase II of their care, which includes supervised exercise and diet. In Phase III, patients use the facility to continue maintaining their health.

But after a certain amount of time, insurance companies and the federal government stop paying for rehabilitation, and most patients pay out of pocket.

But as a result of rising costs and low reimbursement rates from medical insurers, the cardiac rehab program was losing

$400,000 a year. Surowitz said officials had to consider the hospital's mission, which was to steer resources to better care for the critically ill and vulnerable.

The closure on March 25 will affect more than 140 patients.

"This is not a result of the quality of the program, but what's happening at this time," Surowitz said.

Surowitz said patients who still are undergoing the Phase II program, which lasts 12 to 18 weeks, will be referred to neighboring hospitals. Those who are further along in their rehabilitation will be able to go to the YMCA at 18810 Vanowen St., Reseda, for exercise, he said.

Surowitz said the hospital would provide transportation for six weeks.

But cardiac rehab participants, most of whom are seniors, noted the YMCA did not have nurses or staff able to supervise their exercise. Even years after surgery, some patients experience dizziness after mild exercise.

"We're not interested in getting all buffed up at the YMCA," said June Kreiling, 89, a cardiac rehab visitor for 15 years. "We're interested in saving our own lives."

"You can't place dollars and cents on people's lives," agreed her husband, William Kreiling, who also uses the program.

Maria Dickerson said she had visited other cardiac rehab programs at nearby hospitals for her husband Donald, 84, who underwent major surgery in October. Dickerson said there are not only waiting lists at some facilities, but others don't have the level of care that the Tarzana facility does.

"I have called and I have called and I have made visits. We are not going to get adequate supervision," Dickerson said.

Many others expressed fear for one another as well as for the nursing staff, saying they had become a family. Without the socializing, some seniors may give up on going to another facility.

"We are not things, we are not numbers," said local retired dentist Stuart Bernthol. "We are people. If you don't take care of us, we could end up back on your doorstep, sick again."

After the meeting, Surowitz said the unity of support for the program gave him an opportunity to evaluate the hospital's options.

"This issue is not resolved," he said. "I did hear them, their issues and their concerns."

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