The Pulmonary Care Center at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center is an individually tailored and integrated team effort, which, through accurate diagnosis, exercise therapy, and patient education, is directed at providing the patient with the ability to cope with a respiratory disability. The primary goals of the Program are to enhance patient knowledge and to improve functional capacity and quality of life through education and prescribed exercise.

Services at the Pulmonary Care Center are provided by:

• Pulmonary medical specialist
• Registered respiratory therapists
• Registered physical therapists
• Registered dieticians
• Consultations available from medical social workers

Each patient undergoes a thorough screening process to determine eligibility. Individualized goals are established for each patient to direct the course of treatment. Each participant will be provided with an extensive educational syllabus containing valuable learning materials. Upon completion of the Program, each participant is re-evaluated by the pulmonary physician and a complete summation of all tests, prescriptions and patient progress is sent to the patient’s personal physician.

The Program offers morning and afternoon hours to accommodate diverse patient schedules and lifestyles. Upon admission, each patient is scheduled for an 8-week program, three visits per week, two hours per visit.

After completion of the initial 8-week program, each patient will have an opportunity to continue our Maintenance Program. Maintenance is available twice a week and is not covered by insurance. There is a nominal fee for the use of the equipment.

Insurance: Good Samaritan is a participating provider for most managed care plans (HMOs, PPOs, etc.) and insurance companies. Simply ask your physician for a referral.

Services provided by the Pulmonary Care Center:

• Medical evaluation and follow-up by Board Certified Pulmonary Physicians
• Complete Pulmonary Function studies
• Chest X-ray
• Electrocardiogram
• Diagnostic Laboratory Studies
• Arterial Blood Gases
• Physician-conducted Exercise Tolerance Test to establish safe exercise levels and baseline activities
• Supervised cardiac-monitored exercise modalities: treadmill, cycle ergometry, arm ergometry, weight training

The primary goals of this outpatient program are to enhance patient knowledge and improve functional capacity and quality of life through education and prescribed exercises.

Support Group

COPD Support Group: In order to continue supporting the patient with Chronic Lung Disease, the Pulmonary Care Center sponsors a monthly support group. The goal of this group is to provide psychosocial support and education to a patient and family living with lung disease. This community program is offered monthly, free of charge. Information can be obtained by calling (631) 376-4108.

Pulmonary Function Laboratory

The Pulmonary Function Laboratory utilizes state-of-the-art equipment for the diagnosis of lung diseases including asthma, emphysema and other pulmonary problems.

Included with in the scope of the Laboratory is testing focused on exercise-induced asthma within the pediatric population. Information and scheduling for these tests can be obtained by calling (631) 376-4108.

For furter information, call the Physician and Health Referral Line at (631) 376-4444.