“Completely Different Approach” to Rehabilitation Opens in Greensboro

The new facility was made possible, in part, by a $1 million donation.

Greensboro – The new Cone Health Leonard J. Kaplan Center for Heart, Vascular & Lung Health has opened in Greensboro. The 1331 N. Elm St. facility is designed to help people recover from heart, circulatory and lung ailments in more ways than ever before. 

The 11,000 sq. ft. Kaplan Center is double the size of the facility it replaces. Cone Health expects approximately 40% more people will need rehabilitation after heart attacks, heart valve surgery, pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, chronic bronchitis and other conditions in the coming years. This new $1.5 million project also provides services to bariatric and vascular patients.  

“This center is vastly different from what rehabilitation at Cone Health has looked like before,” says, Vice President of Cone Health Heart & Vascular Center, Imaging and Respiratory Services Ruth Fisher. “People will not only benefit from the latest science when it comes to improving their health, but they will get the tools empowering them to remain healthier.” 

The Kaplan Center features natural light for the eyes and a meditation room for mental health. There is also a heavy emphasis on nutritional education. Nutrition education focuses on what you eat through shopping tips and recipe selection. A major component of the program is a full-teaching kitchen for food prep and cooking demonstrations. 

“This dovetails with our new heart and vascular center taking shape on Wendover Avenue,” points out Cone Health Heart & Vascular Center Medical Director Dr. Jake Hochrein. “There, we will prevent cardiovascular disease when we can and treat it when we can’t. But it will be here that people with cardiovascular disease and lung diseases will step toward recovery, prevention of future ailments and build hope of a healthier future.”   

Registered nurses, exercise physiologists, registered dietitians and respiratory therapists work in the physician supervised facility. Their goal is to increase exercise capacity, improve the ability to complete daily tasks, reduce the chances of heading back into the hospital and to improve mood and mental well-being. 

The new facility is made possible in part through a $1 million gift from the Toleo Foundation. Leonard J. Kaplan and his friend and physician, Dr. Jerry Ruskin along with others helped create Greensboro’s first cardiac rehabilitation program in a YMCA in 1979. “I know that my father would be so pleased to see how rehabilitation is being expanded to focus on prevention and wellness,” stated Toleo Foundation President Randall Kaplan. 

“In this season of thanks and of giving, I cannot express my gratitude enough,” says Cone Health President and CEO Dr. Mary Jo Cagle. “Toleo’s generosity makes possible the gift of sharing more holiday feasts with loved ones and spending more time with friends and family for decades to come.” 

Those interested in supporting the heart program or any other Cone Health program, can do so by visiting conehealth.com/giving.