Barry Richardson: My name is Barry Richardson. I'm a lifelong resident of Newberry County, and I'm also the Chief of Poimaria Resuce Squad and Pomaria Fire Department where I'm a paradamedic/firefighter. Little did I know that I would end up having to utilize the services of my own resuce squad. In May of 2017, I experienced serious chest pains following a rescue call I had been on. After coming to the Emergency Room at Newberry Hospital where I recieved excellent care, I was sent to Columbia where I had a stint placed. About a week later I started cardiac rehab here at the Wellness Center.

Stephanie Padgett: My name is Stephanie Padgett, I'm an exercise physiology with Newberry Hospital and I serve as the Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Team Leader and I'm also the Wellness Coordinator. We take a patient who has recently had a heart surgery, a valve replacement, heart attack, something pertaining to the heart and we rehab them, we make them stronger. We work with strength, stability stamina. 

Barry Richardson: When you walked in they were just as nice as they were taking care of their own mother, they are so clinically supurb in the handeling of the patients that have experienced a heart attack.

Stephanie Padgett: We are doing blood pressure management, types of education, nutrition education, stress manangement education, and we really build that relationship with the patient. The good thing about a cardiac rehab program is that you build that relationship not only with the health care providers that are helping you with your day-to-day exercises, but also the patients that you're exercising with.

Barry Richardson: One of the things about being in your own community when you're doing rehab is you have a lot of friends that are going through the same thing.

Stephanie Padgett: You make new friends, old friends, and it's important to know that you're not in this alone. We have several times where patients come back and visit us, and we love that. We love to be able to make them stronger, send them on their way, and then they come back to thank us.

Barry Richardson: The folks here are absolutely outstanding, and even though I did not tell them that I was on the board of trustees, I felt like I received care worthy of any citizen in the county.

Stephanie Padgett: He came in, and we treated him like a normal patient. Later, come to find out that he was actually a board member. No matter what position you are, who you're with, where you're from, we're going to treat you the same, and that's really important to me, and to be able to be part of their journey and part of their transformation to a healthier version of themselves.