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URMC opens its new orthopedic center, offering multidisciplinary services in one facility

Emma Powlin, a member of the 2024 USA Box Training Team, works on strength conditioning in the Fitness Science center at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta. (photo by Max Schulte)
Max Schulte
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WXXI News
Emma Powlin works on strength conditioning in the Fitness Science center at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta.

What once was a Sears department store at The Marketplace Mall in Henrietta is now an enormous, technologically advanced orthopedic facility.

The UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center is working to elevate the patient experience, and this includes its Center for Human Athleticism, Musculoskeletal Performance and Prevention — which focuses on fitness science.

It was Emma Powlin’s first time doing her physical therapy inside the CHAMPP.

The outdoor Fitness Science field at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta. (photo by Max Schulte)
Max Schulte
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WXXI News
The outdoor Fitness Science field at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta.

“This place is awesome,” the box lacrosse player exclaimed.

Powlin recently got her hip and shoulder repaired after sustaining sports injuries throughout the years. Her road to recovery includes weekly physical therapy sessions that previously took place at a facility in Penfield.

“No shade to Penfield, but it’s not this,” she said. “I'm excited for this to be kind of like my home for working out.”

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The aquatic therapy pools in the Sports and Spine Rehabilitation Center are located where the old Sears store was located in the Marketplace Mall at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta.(photo by Max Schulte)
Max Schulte
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WXXI News
The aquatic therapy pools in the Sports and Spine Rehabilitation Center are located where the old Sears store was located in The Marketplace mall at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta.
Ram Haddas, Assistant Professor Department of Orthopaedics, demonstrates a Computerized Dynamic Posturography machine in the Motion Analysis Labs where specialists assess movement disorders and help patients restore and enhance motor functions at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta. (photo by Max Schulte)
Max Schulte
/
WXXI News
Ram Haddas, assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedics, demonstrates a Computerized Dynamic Posturography machine in the Motion Analysis Labs where specialists assess movement disorders and help patients restore and enhance motor functions at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta.

Powlin and other patients are now transitioning over to the new $227 million state-of-the-art facility that also houses motion labs, aquatic therapy pools, and an ambulatory center.

Bob Phillips, an older client, uses the facility just to stay healthy.

“I just want to keep a little fit,” he said. “I feel good when I leave.”

Phillips also transferred from another location. He said the new center is “fabulous” and he looks forward to settling in.

Hansen Lu, a rehibition engineer in the Motion Labs at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta, demonstrates 3D video capture technology used to restore and enhance patients motion.(photo by Max Schulte)
Max Schulte
/
WXXI News
Hansen Lu, a rehabilitation engineer in the Motion Labs at the UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Henrietta, demonstrates 3D video capture technology used to restore and enhance patients' motion.

Dr. Mike Maloney, URMC’s chief of sports medicine, said the center is equipped to provide patients and athletes with care beyond what orthopedic surgery and sports medicine traditionally offers.

“The University of Rochester Medical Center is very famous for that bio-psychosocial model of care, taking care of the whole person, and I think this kind of plays to that,” he said.

That holistic approach to patient care includes injury prevention, nutrition counseling, and mental health coaching.

“Having us all together enhances our communication, our mutual understanding, and helps us to take the best care of patients,” Maloney added.

The center opened to the public on Monday.

Racquel Stephen is WXXI's health, equity and community reporter and producer. She holds a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Rochester and a master's degree in broadcasting and digital journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.