Memorial Hermann IRONMAN SportsCOVER STORY | By Nancy V Mills, APR –
The Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute in Sugar Land is now open, offering expanded access to a highly qualified team of sports medicine specialists who know how to keep athletes in their game, performing at their highest level.
The newest Institute is a modern 15,000-square-foot facility with state-of-the-art technology. It occupies two floors in Memorial Hermann Sugar Land’s recently opened medical plaza on the southwest side of the campus. The first floor provides dedicated space for sports performance services, as well as rehabilitation services. The latter includes physical, speech and occupational therapy, plus concussion management. The second floor houses the clinical space for affiliated physicians to care for patients with injuries of the shoulder, elbow, hand, wrist, knee, hip, foot and ankle.
“We are excited to welcome Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute to the Fort Bend community,” said Malisha Patel, FACHE, vice president of operations for Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital. “The integrated services provided by our affiliated physicians, trainers and multidisciplinary care team will offer preeminent, sport-specific care to athletes close to home.”
“We believe the IRONMAN brand stands for the best rehabilitation care and provides patients with access to the best of the best experts in the sports medicine arena,” added Walt Lowe, M.D., chairman of orthopedic surgery at UTHealth Medical School and medical director of the Institute.
Elite Care for Athletes of All Ability Levels
Like its three sister sites in the Texas Medical Center, Memorial City and The Woodlands, the newest Institute in Sugar Land delivers elite care to athletes of all ages and ability levels to help them prevent injury, recover from injury and improve their performance.
Leading the care is a prestigious staff of affiliated UT Physicians who are fellowship-trained in orthopedic subspecialties and sports medicine. Many of them serve as team physicians for professional sports teams in Houston and Sugar Land, as well as for area public and private high schools.
Vishal Shah, M.D., an affiliated orthopedic surgeon, is excited about the Institute’s high-level sports medicine coming to Fort Bend County as it enhances his ability to help athletes recover from injuries and optimize their sports performance. “The Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute in Sugar Land puts all of the tools that physicians need in one place – from the examination rooms to the rehabilitation unit to the sports performance training equipment,” said Dr. Shah.
Highly trained affiliated physicians provide rapid injury diagnosis and treatment – both operative and nonoperative – required to help athletes return to their sport. With advanced training at the nation’s top sports medicine clinics, the Institute’s affiliated physicians have extensive experience in advanced orthopedic procedures such as ACL tears, rotator cuff injuries, minimally invasive joint replacement surgery and other orthopedic injuries dealing with inflammation, tears or fractures.
“The new Institute is a state-of-the-art facility with indoor running lanes and high-tech equipment utilized in rehabilitation and testing athletes of all levels,” said Erich Hartzog, PT, a board-certified sports clinical specialist, who serves as area manager of the Institute. “We offer sports nutrition counseling and human performance testing for high-level endurance athletes, and we participate in research related to ACL injuries.”
Expanded space, including an indoor throwing area, provides athletes with the opportunity to participate in sport-specific rehabilitation. For example, if a baseball player is recovering from a shoulder injury, progression to throwing a baseball might be part of the rehabilitation process.
Human Performance Services Provide an Edge
Ambitious athletes who desire a competitive edge depend on the Institute’s human performance experts for help. This accomplished team of sports biomechanists, strength and conditioning specialists, exercise physiologists and sports dietitians uses performance testing and counseling to analyze and improve athletes’ biomechanics, training regimens and nutritional practices. Through individualized programs, athletes gain a winning formula to exercise and refuel more efficiently and compete at higher levels.
The Institute offers a comprehensive suite of performance testing and improvement services. Many are sport-specific, and packages are available.
Training More Efficiently
For field sport athletes, the VO2 max test determines peak oxygen usage and helps set heart rate zones. For runners and endurance athletes, the lactate threshold test uses a scientific approach to set pace and heart rate zones for improved training and competition.
A basic biomechanical test can aid athletes in improving the mechanics of their sport. This test captures imbalances in walking, jumping, running, throwing and swinging patterns via video technology, showing movements from all sides. By examining the video frame by frame, sports biomechanists target weaknesses that can lead to injury or that are causing pain.
In a gait analysis, for example, patients are videotaped while running on a treadmill. Oftentimes, the source of an injury is different from the site of the pain. “When an athlete has an issue with throwing a baseball or cutting on the football field, we can observe them going through the motion to help see firsthand how the problem is affecting them,” said Dr. Shah. “That can help us make an accurate diagnosis. That type of replication is impossible in a conventional doctor’s office.”
Fueling Performance
An often-overlooked component of improved sports performance is proper nutrition. Eating the right foods at the right times plays a critical role in providing strength, endurance and speed.
To that end, the Institute offers performance tests that measure body composition, resting metabolic rate and calories used when running or cycling. These tests assist the Institute’s sports dietitians in developing personalized nutritional plans essential for peak performance.
Smart counseling from the Institute’s sports dietitians teaches athletes how to structure their meals through the day and how to get the most from workouts through best dietary practices. In addition, athletes learn to eat pre-competition meals that maximize energy while minimizing the risk of upset stomach.
Fine-Tuning Workouts
The Institute also offers strength and conditioning tailored to the specific sport of recreational and competitive athletes. Whether the goal is increased strength and power, improved cardiovascular conditioning, altered body composition or injury recovery, the Institute’s strength and conditioning specialists focus on fine-tuning techniques to help prevent injury and move athletes to higher performance levels.
These specialists understand that many athletes have limited time for their workouts, so they concentrate on working smart over working hard. They stress proper preparation techniques, such as stretching, and target any biomechanical or functional weaknesses identified in performance testing.
Comprehensive Sports Medicine Expertise
The staff of the newest Institute is excited about bringing comprehensive sports medicine to Fort Bend County with specialty-trained physicians, therapists, strength and conditioning specialists and human performance experts, along with state-of-the-art equipment.
“This new Institute means area residents can get the same top-notch care that the most elite professional athletes receive without wasting time in traffic trying to get into town,” said Dr. Shah.
“With our state-of-the-art facilities, leading-edge technology and expert staff all backed by Memorial Hermann’s extensive resources, I feel this will be the best Institute in the Houston area,” added Hartzog.
For more information about the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute, call 713-242-2270 or visit ironman.memorialhermann.org.
The Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute in Sugar Land is home to comprehensive health care to help athletes stay in the game and perform at their highest level. As the centerpiece for comprehensive sports medicine in Fort Bend County, active area residents can now recover from their orthopedic injuries in a convenient location and enhance their athletic performance with advanced techniques and technology.
• Expert operative and nonoperative care by affiliated sports
medicine fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons
• Experienced sports rehabilitation specialists
• Highly knowledgeable biomechanists, strength and conditioning specialists,
exercise physiologists and sports dietitians who offer human performance testing and counseling to help athletes perform at their highest level