Steele Memorial Medical Center

Respiratory Therapy and Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Breathing New Life:
Your Path to Better Respiratory Health Starts Here

The respiratory system consists of a series of organs that take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. Since the body needs oxygen to sustain itself, respiratory conditions that cause shortness of breath and other breathing problems require the highest quality of care.

Steele Memorial Medical Center's Respiratory and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program is here to help you breathe and live well. Our program is designed to meet each patient's individual needs by treating and restoring patients suffering from lung function and airway problems. Our skilled respiratory therapists provide individualized care for patients with chronic and acute respiratory problems.
At Steele Memorial Medical Center our goal is to help our patients return to the highest level of function and independence possible, while improving the overall quality of life - physically, emotionally, and socially.

The most common benefits of Respiratory Therapy are:

  • Live more comfortably and independently
  • ​Improve your daily living
  • ​Control your illness
  • ​Control of and/or relief from symptoms
  • Reduced risk of hospitalization
  • Greater strength and endurance
  • Better understanding of medications and treatments
  • Education support for proper Inhaler and Nebulizer use
  • ​​Education support for CPAP mask use and care
     

Our team of pulmonary experts treat inpatients and outpatients with conditions ranging from acute illnesses to chronic respiratory diseases, including the following:

  • Asthma
  • Chronic bronchitis
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Emphysema
  • Lung cancer
  • Occupational lung disease
  • Pneumonia
  • Pulmonary fibrosis
  • Pulmonary hypertension
  • Sarcoidosis
  • Sleep apnea
  • Smoking cessation

Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs)

Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are noninvasive tests that show how well the lungs are working. The tests measure lung volume, capacity, rates of flow, and gas exchange. This information can help your healthcare provider diagnose and decide the treatment of certain lung disorders.

Why might I need pulmonary function tests?

There are many different reasons why pulmonary function tests (PFTs) may be done. They are sometimes done in healthy people as part of a routine physical. They are also routinely done in certain types of work environments to ensure employee health (such as graphite factories and coal mines). Or you may have PFTs if your healthcare provider needs help to diagnose you with a health problem such as:

  • Allergies
  • Respiratory infections
  • Trouble breathing from injury to the chest or a recent surgery
  • Chronic lung conditions, such as asthma, bronchiectasis, emphysema, or chronic bronchitis
  • Asbestosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers
  • Restrictive airway problems from scoliosis, tumors, or inflammation or scarring of the lungs
  • Sarcoidosis, a disease that causes lumps of inflammatory cells around organs, such as the liver, lungs, and spleen
  • ​Scleroderma, a disease that causes thickening and hardening of connective tissue

PFTs may be used to check lung function before surgery or other procedures in patients who have lung or heart problems, who are smokers, or who have other health conditions. Another use of PFTs is to assess treatment for asthma, emphysema, and other chronic lung problems. Your healthcare provider may also have other reasons to advise PFTs.


To learn more how Respiratory Therapy can help you recover, build strength and feel better.
Call 208-756-5600 to schedule a consultation with a respiratory therapist today.