GoodLife Fitness Collaboration

​​The 1.3 million Canadians suffering from heart disease will have greater access to cardiovascular rehabilitation thanks to a $5 million donation by GoodLife Fitness to the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.

The GoodLife Fitness Centre of Excellence in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Medicine marks the beginning of an innovative and first of its kind, private/public collaboration between GoodLife Fitness and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at UHN.

Heart disease is the number one cause of hospitalization in Canada and many risk factors for heart disease – poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, stress– are on the rise.

For Peter Munk Cardiac Centre patients, this means greater access to the latest cardiac rehabilitation techniques and equipment; a supportive environment to strive for their rehabilitation goals; an enhanced continuum of care extending into the community, and, as a result, improving overall health and wellness while significantly decreasing likelihood of another cardiac episode.

Peter Munk Cardiac Centre cardiac rehabilitation experts along with fitness experts from GoodLife Fitness will work together to build a program to help patients transition into the community and achieve life-long success in their cardiac rehabilitation and health.

“The GoodLife Fitness Chair will build upon a proud history of cardiac achievement at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, including completing the first aortic valve replacement using the Toronto Heart Valve in 1987,” said Dr. Barry Rubin, Program Medical Director of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. “Across the country, Canadians will benefit from the knowledge developed in the GoodLife Fitness Centre of Excellence in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Medicine.”

Funds will also help revitalize the existing rehabilitation facilities throughout UHN to better match the standard of care offered by the cardiovascular rehabilitation services in the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and Toronto Rehab’s Rumsey Centre.

“This will save lives and help to reduce the cost of care in Ontario,” said Dr. Robert Bell, President and CEO at UHN. “This was a natural collaboration for us because it marries the cardiac rehabilitation focus for inpatients and our ability to involve the cardiac rehabilitation program and research in Toronto Rehab’s Rumsey. The research program at Toronto Rehab has demonstrated that individuals who complete cardiac rehabilitation following a major heart event cut their risk of dying from another cardiac event by as much as 50%.”