Hilo hospital pauses cardiac rehabilitation program to accommodate overflow patients

As the Hilo Benioff Medical Center expansion project progresses, at least one program has been paused to accommodate patients with acute needs at the hospital.

Hilo Benioff Medical Center has temporarily halted its cardiac rehabilitation program. However, the hospital has a cardiac care team in place to treat acute cardiac events, such as heart attacks and ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, the most severe type of heart attack.

The cardiac rehabilitation program was designed to improve heart health after a heart attack, heart failure, or heart surgery/procedure. Healthcare professionals monitored exercise to strengthen the heart and improve cardiac endurance.

On Wednesday, Valerie Souza Poindexter stated on social media that she was unaware the Hilo Benioff Medical Center had paused its cardiac rehabilitation program and expressed concern for two of her family members who had heart surgeries this year.

“The cardiac rehabilitation program was paused a while ago due to the need to accommodate acute overflow patients at the main hospital,” said Elena Cabatu, spokesperson for Hilo Benioff Medical Center. “We are consistently over full capacity, which will not be alleviated until the hospital expansion is completed.”

Construction of the 66,000-square-foot expansion of Hilo Benioff Medical Center is ongoing. The $80 million project will add 19 Intensive Care Unit beds on the second floor and 36 additional beds on the third floor of the hospital.

“The expansion is one of the key solutions to addressing our bed shortage issue. When it is completed, we will assess a restart to the service,” Cabatu said. “We are currently providing follow-up care for our patients within the cardiology service line.”

The East Hawaiʻi Health Clinic, located at 1190 Waiānuenue Ave., across from the hospital, is part of the Hilo Benioff Medical Center service line and provides Hawaiʻi Island with diagnostic cardiology support services as well as interventional cardiology services.

Board-certified cardiologists and a clinical care team specialize in treating disorders of the heart, including the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, heart failure, coronary disease, valvular heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia.

For more information on cardiology services, visit the East Hawaiʻi Health Clinic website.

Along with the expansion next to the hospital, the new two-story office building—Medical Office Building 3—stands with the original two medical office buildings across Waianuenue Ave. from the hospital’s main lobby and emergency room.

The third building will allow the urgent care facility in Medical Office Building 2 to expand and serve more patients. Specialty care, like cardiology and oncology, offered in the medical office buildings will expand with new offices as well.

Updated information on the expansion project can be found on Hilo Benioff Medical Center’s social media pages.