By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Jefferson Hospital/Methodist Campus is welcoming heart patients — and non-patients — to its refurbished and expanded Outpatient Cardiac Rehab facility, in South Philadelphia.

Walk into this space in a Jefferson Medical building down the street from Methodist Hospital, near Broad and Porter Streets, and you might think you took a wrong turn into an exercise club.

Yet treadmills, stationary bicycles, and similar equipment are precisely what the doctor ordered (in some cases literally) for those who have had a cardiac event.

(Credit: John Ostapkovich)

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“The goal is not just to have this for people with heart disease, but even for the risk factors for heart disease,” says cardiologist David Shipon (at left in top photo), “so there’s a monitored program and then there’s a partially monitored program.  And the third part of this is — you don’t really need a prescription for that: a fee per month, for the third phase of the rehab.”

…perhaps better called “prehab” because the whole idea is to help you with a lifestyle change that wards off diabetes, obesity, and heart trouble.