Cardiac rehab center to relocate
By Daniel Wolowicz
danielw@theacorn.com

The Los Robles Hospital cardiac rehabilitation center at the Westlake Village Medical Center will be relocating, not closing, according to hospital CEO Jim Sherman.

Heart patients feared the facility would close after hospital officials met last week to discuss selling the medical building.

Although Los Robles put the Lakeview Canyon Road medical facility up for sale last month, all rehabilitation services will be moved to the Los Robles East Campus on Via Merida, less than a mile away.

"At the medical center, we offer cardiac rehabilitation, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation," Sherman said. "All of the clinical services will be moved, even cardiac rehab."

Initially, Sherman had expressed concern about keeping the cardiac rehab center open because a doctor is required on site for cardiac therapy.

Currently, the hospital shares a doctor with the Westlake Village Urgent Care Center, which is also located at the Westlake Village Medical Center facility.

The urgent care center plans to move once the sale is complete, but, according to Sharon Mulick, the facility’s manager, the site of its new home hasn’t yet been decided. Although the urgent care center will probably remain in the area, it’s very unlikely that the physician-sharing arrangement with Los Robles Hospital’s cardiac rehab will continue.

"It was a brainstorming session," Sherman said of his meeting with the clinic’s staff. "We were looking to find a way to keep the cardiac rehab open. It was not about closing the cardiac rehab portion of the therapy services. What happened, though, is there was miscommunication somewhere along the line, like a game of ‘Telephone.’"

Sherman said the hospital has found a doctor to work at the cardiac rehab center and has corrected any confusion among staff members. There will be no marked difference in operating hours for the cardiac rehabilitation program.

Hospital officials received numerous phone calls and letters from concerned heart patients. An ad hoc group personally handed in a petition signed by 49 patients protesting closure of the center.

The hospital sent a letter to each person clarifying the situation.

"It’s a real tribute to the staff and hospital because the community thinks so highly of our services," Sherman said. "Some people would perceive all those calls a negative, but I think it was great."

Patients view the cardiac rehab clinic as a special place.

"If it wasn’t there, I probably wouldn’t be exercising at all," said Bill Gourlay, a rehab patient since his quadruple bypass in 1998. "It’s a place to go where you feel comfortable. If something goes wrong, there are people there who can take care of you."

Sherman said the sale of the Westlake Village Medical Center and the relocation of the therapy services are unrelated. He said that consolidating services made sense from a management perspective and had been in the works for some time.

"It’s just easier to manage two sites as opposed to three," Sherman said.

The sale of the 73,000-square-foot medical center is still in its preliminary stages and no bids have been made, Sherman said. The city of Westlake Village is currently appraising the property.

There is no set timeline for the building’s sale, hospital officials said.

The property is currently zoned public institutional, but the city can consider rezoning the 6.5-acre parcel if it receives a proposal.

Coldwell Banker/Richard Ellis in Sherman Oaks is brokering the sale for Hospital Corporation of America, the parent company of Los Robles Hospital.

It has not yet been decided what the hospital will do with the money from the sale, Sherman said, though a portion of the money will most likely help defray the cost of the main hospital’s $120-million expansion.