SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport now offers a new specialty and opened a new facility on Thursday, November 14.

Sports medicine is now offered at this facility located on Samford Avenue. Health facility officials also cut the ribbon on Thursday on a new sports medicine rehabilitation gym, designed to help children with sports-related injuries.

“We are excited to add this new line of services. This is the first service line we’ve added in a very long time. So to be able to officially add sports medicine, it’s a great feeling,” said Jerry Defatta, president of the Shriners Board of Directors.

“When you work with adults, your job is to get them back to work. Well, playing is work for kids, so we want to do everything we can to get them to start playing again,” said Damian Duhon, manager of therapy services at Shriners.

This is the third specialty of care offered at Shriners. In 1922, the facility began offering pediatric orthopedic care, and in 2012 it added care for cleft lips and palates. This new specialty will feature a team of health professionals, including an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine, an athletic trainer, physiotherapists, etc.

The Shriners sought to add sports medicine to their services after realizing that about 25 percent of the children who received them suffered from sports injuries, prompting the hospital to create a space that would best benefit and help young people athletes to recover.

“Children want to get back to playing their sport. They want to have fun doing it. A lot of places in this area are built for larger numbers of adults,” Duhon said. “Children are not little adults. They react to injuries and heal differently. So that provides us with the type of equipment that we need to accomplish these things.

Shriners has the only sports medicine facility specifically designed for children in the region.

The new gym features a large indoor space, hitting nets, basketball hoop, exercise machines, supporter bikes, pylo boxes, hurdles and specialist balance equipment. There is also a large grass field, which will allow patients to reproduce sports movements on a realistic surface. The new facility, along with existing motion analysis and radiology services, will strengthen the hospital’s ability to make a difference in children’s lives.

“We are truly excited to introduce sports medicine as our newest specialty of care at Shriners Hospital for Children Shreveport,” said Susan Bryant, PT, MBA, MHA, clinic director. “We believe that sports medicine represents a natural extension of the care we provide and that we are uniquely positioned to provide the expertise and specialized technology needed to help children recover from injuries and return to sport safely. trust. With this new offering, we look forward to leveraging our strengths to provide care to more children in the ways we can make the most impact.

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