SUGAR LAND, TEXAS (November 17, 2015)

Elite sports medicine care is coming to Sugar Land. The Memorial Hermann IRONMAN® Sports Medicine Institute, offering access to a dynamic array of sports medicine experts and comprehensive testing and training for competitive and recreational athletes, will open its fourth location on the Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital campus in the spring of 2016.

“Enhancing our relationship with Memorial Hermann as they open the fourth location of the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute in Sugar Land is indicative of the power of the partnership” said Bill Potts, Vice President of Global Licensing and Partner Services. “The Institute and its staff will now be able to provide excellent sports medicine care and human performance testing to even more athletes of all types at this new facility.”

The Institute in Sugar Land will join Memorial Hermann’s comprehensive orthopedic network that includes sister sites in the Texas Medical Center, Memorial City and The Woodlands; eight Memorial Hermann Joint Centers; and the Memorial Hermann Orthopedic & Spine Hospital in Bellaire. Memorial Hermann’s orthopedic services include: knee; hip; shoulder; foot and ankle; spine and back; and elbow, hand and wrist care.

Like its sister sites, the Institute will offer physician services, physical therapy, human performance training and testing, and sports nutrition counseling.

“We are really excited to bring our diverse spectrum of sports medicine expertise and performance programs to Sugar Land,” said Walt Lowe, MD, Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School and Medical Director of the Institute. “Since we opened our flagship IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute in the Texas Medical Center in 2011, we have worked to establish quality, comprehensive orthopedic care and innovative sports medicine programs at each successive site.”

The new 15,000-square-foot facility will be located in Memorial Hermann Sugar Land’s new medical plaza, which is currently under construction as part of a $93 million campus expansion endeavor.

“This is an exciting announcement for the Institute and for the rapidly growing Sugar Land community and Fort Bend County region,” said Jim Brown, Senior Vice President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Ambulatory Services and Orthopedics. "There is an active adult and youth population in the area that deserves convenient access to unmatched sports medicine care in their own community. They will have that option on the Memorial Hermann Sugar Land campus.”

In addition to offering the same high-quality services available at other Institute sites, the Institute in Sugar Land will have the added element of a large outdoor sports field that will be used for physical therapy, rehabilitation, return-to-play, and sports performance training and testing.

“We are thrilled to diversify Memorial Hermann Sugar Land’s services with the addition of the IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute and are proud that we are continuing to provide the best medical care possible to the surrounding community,” said Greg Haralson, Senior Vice President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Sugar Land. “Our hospital campus is expanding to meet the growing demands of Sugar Land and Fort Bend County with state-of-the-art facilities and enhanced capabilities.”

The Institute is affiliated with UT Physicians – fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons who also serve on the faculty of UTHealth. Memorial Hermann’s prestigious staff of affiliated physicians includes head team physicians for the Houston Rockets, Houston Texans, the University of Houston Cougars and many area public and private high schools.

The Institute is also an extension of Memorial Hermann’s long-term partnership with IRONMAN. Together, the two organizations host the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN® Texas triathlon presented by Waste Management, which has taken place in The Woodlands each of the last five years. Learn more about the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas triathlon here.

For more information about Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute and its locations, visit ironman.memorialhermann.org or call 713.242.2270.