Heart Care

At CHI Health St. Francis, excellent heart care is close at hand. Together with primary care physicians and the cardiologists of the CHI Health Nebraska Heart, St. Francis can offer sophisticated cardiology services to treat heart emergencies and manage serious conditions such as chronic heart failure.

Utilizing some of the latest technology available, St. Francis Cardiology Services can provide simple tests such as an EKG to the more complex procedures such as a cardiac catheterization. And Cardiac Rehabilitation can help you recover from a heart illness and improve your health and quality of life.

Aquapheresis

St. Francis was one of the first hospitals in central Nebraska to utilize Aquapheresis™ Therapy, also known as ultrafiltration therapy, which is designed to safely and effectively removes excess salt and water from the bodies of patients who are suffering from fluid overload due to heart failure.

Health care providers may prescribe a low salt diet, fluid restriction or other therapies to help patients reduce fluid – such as a water pill, or diuretic, given orally or intravenously. However, these treatments do not always work effectively resulting in a need for alternative therapy – such as Aquapheresis™.

Therapeutic Hypothermia

Therapeutic hypothermia is a leading-edge treatment that can improve the chances of full recovery for a patient suffering cardiac arrest. St. Francis is the only hospital in central Nebraska to offer therapeutic hypothermia treatment to its patients.

This treatment involves placing the patient into a medically-induced coma and lowering the core body temperature. Through such cooling, doctors can prevent the long-term brain damage that usually results as the brain recovers from a short period without oxygen.

If you’re dealing with a heart or lung condition, you may need to make lifestyle changes that might seem overwhelming. Our cardiac and pulmonary rehab staff is here to help you make the changes necessary to become healthier.

The cardiac rehab staff is made up of nurses with special training in caring for patients who have heart and lung problems. What we really do best is make everyone feel welcome every time they walk through the door. The nurses will teach you, encourage you, and support you on your path to wellness.

Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab can help participants can achieve:

• Improved physical fitness and ability to exercise
• Better knowledge of heart and lung disease
• Increased independence and quality of life
• Understanding of a heart-healthy lifestyle and decrease the risk of future heart problems

One in five adults over the age of 40 will develop heart failure. Early diagnosis, treatment and lifestyle improvements can help people with heart failure enjoy longer, fulfilling lives. Our comprehensive heart failure program and team of experts offer highly specialized, proven treatments to help patients with heart failure get back to the life they love.

St. Francis is pleased to provide patients with superior heart and vascular care through a partnership with CHI Health Nebraska Heart.

CHI Health Nebraska Heart has been ranked as the top cardiac hospital in Nebraska by the Healthgrades organization for eight consecutive years. The same cardiovascular physicians from Nebraska Heart also practice at St. Francis. This partnership allows us to provide our patients with a high level of specialization in the fast-advancing field of cardiology.

Because we work together, you can be confident knowing that your care team utilizes the Nebraska Heart approach that has proven to offer superior patient outcomes based on a variety of measures.