Heart failure program in Denver

At HealthONE hospitals, we offer more heart failure treatment options than just heart transplants. You receive significant one-on-one time with our heart specialists, who are dedicated to doing everything possible to improve your health. Our cardiac specialists are committed to reducing the number of times you have to be readmitted to the hospital for heart issues by working with you to find the best treatment option.

For more information about HealthONE's heart failure treatments and programs, call us at (303) 695-2971.

Understanding heart failure

The term “heart failure" may sound as if the heart is no longer working and that there is nothing that can be done to improve your heart health. In actuality, heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart is not pumping as well as it should.

Congestive heart failure (CHF)

CHF occurs when the heart muscle becomes too weak to properly pump blood throughout the body. This weakened heart muscle could be caused by various factors, such as types of heart disease, chronic high blood pressure, damaged heart valves or a damaged heart muscle.

Conditions that can lead to heart failure

A variety of health conditions may cause heart failure, including:

Signs of heart failure

Symptoms of heart failure may include:

  • Difficulty breathing when lying down
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Fatigue and weakness
  • Increased urge to urinate at night
  • Lack of appetite
  • Persistent cough or wheezing with white or pink phlegm
  • Rapid or irregular heartbeat
  • Shortness of breath after physical exertion or even lying down
  • Swelling in your legs, ankles, feet or abdomen
  • Weight gain and swelling of the legs and ankles from fluid retention

Only your doctor can tell you if you have heart failure. If you think you may be at risk, visit your doctor as soon as possible.

Diagnosing heart failure

Finding out your exact heart problem is essential to determining the cause of heart failure. We offer state-of-the-art heart screening and imaging services, including echocardiograms (heart ultrasounds) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) tests. These allow our heart doctors to detect heart problems and confirm heart failure. When we diagnose the exact cause of your heart problems, we can suggest appropriate and accurate treatments to improve your heart health.

Heart failure treatment

Though some conditions that lead to heart failure can be reversed, others cannot. However, with treatment, patients can experience reduced symptoms of heart failure and a better quality of life.

We offer a variety of treatment options for heart failure, such as:

  • Device implants (e.g., pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators)
  • Lifestyle changes (e.g., exercise, quitting smoking and eating well)
  • Medications (e.g., beta blockers and ACE inhibitors)
  • Participation in clinical trials
  • Surgical procedures (e.g., coronary bypass surgery and heart valve repair or replacement)

Remember, heart failure does not mean your heart has stopped beating, but that your heart is not pumping as well as it should. It is important you and your doctor work together to manage your symptoms so you feel better and prevent the heart from further weakening.

Heart failure programs and clinics

Our hospitals offer heart failure programs and clinics to provide patients with a truly advanced approach to heart failure care. Patients who suffer from heart failure need more individualized treatment plans and routine follow-up care than patients with other conditions.

Goals of our supervised heart failure program

The primary goal of our heart programs is to reduce readmissions for patients with heart conditions. To do this, we will:

  • Educate both you and your family on the treatment and management of heart failure, lifestyle modifications and medications surrounding heart failure
  • Help you manage your heart failure needs by having experts in heart failure available for easy access, such as phone consults or same-day appointments