Congestive Heart Failure Clinic

The Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Clinic at Newton-Wellesley Hospital is for people with congestive heart failure, a condition in which the heart doesn’t pump blood as well as it should.

You can be referred to the clinic after a hospital admission or through referrals from your cardiologist or primary care physician. Our nurse practitioner-based clinic offers disease management, education, exercise, and long-term follow-up. The program also includes dietitians and physical therapists involved in the education and exercise components.

What to Expect at the CHF Clinic

When you come to the CHF Clinic, you are evaluated by a nurse practitioner who performs a cardiopulmonary assessment. The nurse also reviews your medications and educates you on your condition, how to get the most from your medication, and self-care advice.

The dietitians in the programs help you revise eating habits by searching out low-sodium choices, explaining how sodium hides in regular food (like bread), and showing you how to make good choices when eating in restaurants.

Each patient at the Congestive Heart Failure Clinic undergoes a physical therapy examination with a cardiopulmonary clinical specialist, which includes a review of prior exercise habits and development of an appropriate exercise plan. We offer a CHF exercise program, a 21-week program in which patients come in two times a week for 30 visits and then once a week for 6 visits.