Marquette aims to be hub for sports medicine with new facility

A partnership of several local businesses along with Northern Michigan University have announced what will be a large new sports medicine building in Marquette.

 

The Great Lakes Sports Medicine and Life Performance Institute is being built at 841 West Washington Street in Marquette and will, when completed, be a 25,000-square-foot, $3.6 million facility. It's a combined effort from UP Health System Rehab Services, NMU, Advanced Center for Orthopedics and Plastic Surgery, UP Rehab Services, and Perform4Life Medical Fitness and Wellness Center.

 

"Our goal for this facility is to be a regional destination center for active people seeking innovative and inclusive sports medicine services. The Sports Medicine and Life Performance Institute brings resources and expertise -- academic, clinical and material -- all together in an exceptional facility. This pioneering approach and our profound commitment to patients will create value that attracts people from all over the Midwest," is how Dr. J. Bryan Dixon from UPHS's Advanced Center for Orthopedics describes the new facility.

 

It will provide regional orthopedic and sports medicine services, with a 24-hour gym offering medical fitness and wellness services to fit anyone's schedule. Other specialties include physical therapy, spine and orthopedic rehab services, aquatic therapy, hand therapy, athletic training services, and a division of sports science research focusing on non-traditional treatments for cancer survivors, such as exercise programs.

 

The research part is where NMU comes in; Elizabeth Wuorinen, Associate Dean for Northern Michigan University, says, "We are looking forward to the potential collaborations with all those involved as there are many ways that we can all work together. The Health and Human Performance Research Center is excited to start working on our exercise oncology research investigating how exercise can be beneficial to cancer survivors, from the time of diagnosis, through treatment, and post-treatment. Exercise, specifically non-traditional and in the outdoors, can be extremely beneficial to survivors not only physically, but mentally, emotionally, and impact one's overall well-being."

 

Construction is scheduled to be completed this February, with a spring open house for the public.

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