Tampa General Brooksville Heart Failure Rehab Restores Hernando Man’s Singing, Swinging

Thomas Todd of Hernando County credits rehab at the Tampa General Brooksville Heart Failure Clinic with restoring him to the activities he loves, saying the program brought him back to "singing and swinging." The Brooksville clinic photo was taken Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, by Hanna Maglio.

At his initial evaluation, Todd's clinical numbers underscored how far he had to go. He rated his quality of life as 34. His depression score was a seven, considered mildly depressed. During his six-minute walk test, he managed 928 feet, less than a fifth of a mile.

On July 22, Todd became one of the first patients seen at the TGH Brooksville Advanced Heart Failure Clinic, where he also began the TGH Brooksville cardiac rehabilitation program. The clinic provided close supervision and an individualized treatment plan that combined multiple elements of care.

Those elements included diets and careful medication adjustments, routine lab monitoring to ensure therapies were safe and effective, and referrals to cardiac rehab. Care was coordinated with electrophysiology for potential CRT-D placement as part of the clinic's multidisciplinary approach. But under the clinic's close supervision, those numbers began to change, and Todd's recovery accelerated. The crisis had passed. But the fight for his heart and his life was far from over.

Tampa General Hospital describes the Heart Failure Clinic as offering comprehensive services across all phases of care - from early detection and lifestyle modification to advanced interventions such as LVAD implantation and heart transplantation. TGH says the Heart & Vascular Institute coordinates across specialties including the Transplant Institute, Interventional Cardiology, Electrophysiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, General Cardiology and Cardiac Imaging, and that the system collaborates with the University of South Florida on research and clinical trials. TGH also lists virtual care options and notes self-pay or insurance payment pathways.

For residents seeking consultation, the TGH Brooksville Heart Failure Clinic can be reached at (352) 576-5379. Tampa General lists scheduling for Heart Failure and Transplantation Cardiology under Debbie A Rinde-Hoffman, MD, with a call-to-schedule number of 813-251-0793. The hospital's online materials also advise new patients to bring medication lists, recent test results and written symptom questions to the first visit.

The published account of Todd's case does not include updated post-rehab numeric measurements for quality of life, depression score or six-minute walk distance; the available reporting notes improvement in clinical measures but does not provide new values. The Brooksville clinic remains a local access point for advanced heart-failure care and coordinated specialty services as patients like Todd pursue recovery.