{"id":207241,"date":"2026-03-26T18:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T18:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/207241\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T18:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T18:36:14","slug":"adventhealth-apopka-to-launch-cardiac-rehabilitation-program-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/207241\/","title":{"rendered":"AdventHealth Apopka\u00a0to launch cardiac rehabilitation program\u00a0Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the start of the new year, AdventHealth\u2019s presence has continued to expand\u00a0in Apopka.\u00a0Most recently,\u00a0AdventHealth\u00a0acquired a distribution center<\/a>\u00a0in Apopka for $84 million, and\u00a0this month\u00a0the City Commission\u00a0approved\u00a0the renewal of a\u00a0five-year sponsorship agreement<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Key to this effort is Brad Hillmon, who\u00a0stepped into the role of CEO at AdventHealth Apopka<\/a>\u00a0last September.\u00a0This week, Hillmon\u00a0met with\u00a0The Apopka Chief to discuss his tenure so far and his vision for\u00a0the hospital\u2019s future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one would have ever been able to convince me to believe that I would one day have the opportunity to lead at this capacity here,\u201d said Hillmon, who grew up and now raises his\u00a0family in Apopka. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0just been such an honor to stay in my community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BradCourtesy of AdventHealth Brad Hillmon started his tenure as CEO in September 2025, following Parker Pridgen\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

Hillmon\u2019s predecessor,\u00a0Parker Pridgen,\u00a0resigned\u00a0last year\u00a0after deciding to move to California with his family<\/a>.\u00a0He called Pridgen a \u201cgood leader,\u201d citing his growth\u00a0of\u00a0the cardiology program and\u00a0opening of the\u00a0infusion center<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0among Pridgen\u2019s most consequential accomplishments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was not a situation where I had to come in and turn around the hospital,\u201d Hillmon said. \u201cIt was like, how do you come in and accelerate the things that have happened and accelerate the development of services? The community\u2019s growing so fast \u2014 we\u00a0have tokeep up with the community and the people that are living here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As part of his effort to \u201ckeep up with the community,\u201d Hillmon is focusing on \u201cexpanding services,\u201d particularly by\u00a0reintroducing vascular care to the AdventHealth Apopka campus and \u201cbuilding out more robust cancer care.\u201d He is also\u00a0looking forward to serving residents of northern Apopka through an\u00a0upcoming ER facility at Wyld Oaks<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of homes going up in the Kelly Park\/Wyld Oaks area,\u201d Hillmon said. \u201cOur partnership with Wyld Oaks is well-known, and\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0excited to partner with them and help to make sure that as that community grows, there\u2019s health care for people to\u00a0receive locally.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hillmon\u00a0also announced\u00a0plans\u00a0to\u00a0launch\u00a0an intensive cardiac rehabilitation (ICR) program on\u00a0Monday at\u00a0the AdventHealth Apopka campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone has a cardiac event, it\u2019s an intense medical intervention,\u201d Hillmon said. \u201cThere\u2019s surgery,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0all kinds of things involved.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0also a long road back to normal living, and we know that people have a much higher chance of getting back to normal living more quickly if they\u00a0have the ability to\u00a0get follow-up care\u00a0frequently.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ICR program will see patients several days a week, providing\u00a0personalized care plans, a gym,\u00a0direct contact with\u00a0clinicians,\u00a0and nutrition education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"IntensiveCourtesy of AdventHealth Intensive cardiac rehab patients will use the exercise room above during their recovery journeys.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have to drive downtown\u00a0for that\u00a0several days a week, that can be really difficult,\u201d Hillmon said. \u201cPeople\u2019s chances of\u00a0participatingin that process go\u00a0way\u00a0down, because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just hard. Now, when that is in your local community hospital, and you can drive a few miles to get intensive cardiac rehab, you have a much\u00a0higher\u00a0chance of being compliant with your care plan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hillmon is also looking forward to bringing\u00a0more proactive\u00a0healthcare opportunities, both on the AdventHealth Apopka campus and beyond. Crucial to that effort is the\u00a0recently approved five-year, $703,650\u00a0sponsorship agreement<\/a>\u00a0between the city of Apopka and\u00a0the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is part of our mission that we participate in not only\u00a0helping to\u00a0heal people when they\u2019re sick, but that we are part of their lives when they\u2019re doing well,\u201d Hillmon said. \u201cYou can see in that\u00a0agreement,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a lot of\u00a0opportunity\u00a0for us\u00a0to collaborate in education and collaborate in healthy cooking classes and how to manage diabetes and how to manage complex chronic conditions.\u00a0We\u2019ve\u00a0made sure that in the agreement we have a responsibility to\u00a0actually have\u00a0physicians come and talk to people about their conditions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a result of the agreement, AdventHealth Apopka funded the construction of an outdoor workout area at the Northwest Recreation Complex, will\u00a0participate\u00a0in\u00a0various annual Apopka holiday events, and will appear in youth sports opening day ceremonies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make health care less intimidating as a society,\u201d Hillmon said. \u201cBy us being involved in\u00a0the community, I hope that it makes the health care process a little less intimidating, and folks will engage a little bit more in preventing sickness and in taking care of their bodies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On a more personal level, Hillmon credits his involvement in the Foliage Sertoma Club of Apopka for his ability to understand the community\u2019s desires and needs across various career fields and causes. The club meets regularly at the Back Room Steakhouse\u00a0to plan various events and charitable endeavors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout the community, there\u2019s people that are involved in education\u00a0\u2014\u00a0there\u2019s people that are involved in conservation efforts, there\u2019s people that are involved in local government,\u201d Hillmon said. \u201c[Sertoma\u2019s] a bit of an informal setting where you can come and\u00a0kind of enjoy\u00a0people\u2019s\u00a0company, but\u00a0then talk about and\u00a0participate\u00a0in activities that help grow community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Hillmon\u00a0hopes that, during his tenure as CEO, AdventHealth Apopka will build a reputation\u00a0of\u00a0delivering compassionate, accessible health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever walks through our doors\u00a0\u2014\u00a0you don\u2019t know their history, you don\u2019t know their past, you don\u2019t know what they\u2019ve been through, you don\u2019t know what they\u2019re going through,\u201d Hillmon said. \u201cBut what I do know is this could be the one chance in their life where they have an opportunity to be treated like a child of God, and I don\u2019t want to miss the opportunity to\u00a0treat someone that way and to make someone feel valued and loved and cared for. We\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0perfect, but we sure try to get it right most of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Sarah Merly is an editorial assistant and reporter for The Apopka Chief. She joined the Chief in May 2025 after graduating from Patrick Henry College’s journalism program in Washington, D.C. In her spare time, Sarah loves watching rom-coms, visiting Disney, and throwing parties.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the start of the new year, AdventHealth\u2019s presence has continued to expand\u00a0in Apopka.\u00a0Most recently,\u00a0AdventHealth\u00a0acquired a distribution center\u00a0in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-207241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}