Together in Innovative Partnership to Improve Students' Fitness Indian River Memorial Hospital and Sebastian River High School have announced a partnership that will transform the school's traditional physical education program into a wellness program. IRMH is funding the purchase of 90 heart rate monitor watches that will enable instructors and students to evaluate the students' cardiovascular fitness level. In addition, IRMH medical staff cardiologists will work with physical education instructors to improve students' cardiovascular fitness. We believe it is imperative that we begin putting more emphasis on improving cardiovascular fitness in our teenagers. The wireless heart rate monitors provide continuous feedback with the accuracy of an electrocardiogram.
Teachers can then download the information to a computer for analysis.
In the past, we could only grade our students on participation. With the heart monitor watches, we can document the student's effort and track the student's improvement in fitness. Jeffrey L. Susi, IRMH president and chief executive officer, says partnering with Sebastian River High School to create this wellness program fits perfectly with the hospital's mission to assess and meet the healthcare needs of individuals and the community. That translates into better health as adults and less serious illness that requires lengthy and expensive medical care. IRMH is proud of the range of cardiology services it offers, including our Chest Pain Center, which opened last year.