COVINGTON, Ga.– Piedmont Newton Hospital now offers pulmonary rehabilitation services, which is a supervised program of exercise and education focusing on lung diseases.

“There are so many benefits of pulmonary rehab,” Haley Flynn, supervisor of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation at Piedmont Newton, said. “Piedmont Newton’s program is designed to help patients understand their pulmonary disease through educational sessions, as well as improve their strength and endurance with exercise specifically created for each patient.” 

Patients enrolled in Piedmont Newton’s pulmonary rehab program will be able to come in twice a week and learn under the care of trained staff, including respiratory therapists, exercise physiologists and dieticians.

Through the program, patients will learn things like breathing techniques that help control shortness of breath, as well as gain strength and flexibility to improve the ability to perform activities of daily living. Education will consist of medication usage, methods to reduce stress and lung infections, along with other topics associated with lung diseases.

“Acute and chronic lung diseases cause reduced airflow, making it hard to breathe, and these diseases can worsen over time,” Flynn said. “Pulmonary rehab can help build your fitness and help you breath as well as you possibly can. We’re so glad to be able to now provide this important service close to home for the people in the community with these diseases.” 

Approximately 12 million adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD each year, according to National Institutes of Health. Piedmont Newton’s pulmonary rehab services are open to individuals diagnosed with chronic and non-chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis. 

For more information about pulmonary rehabilitation services at Piedmont Newton, call 770-385-4430.