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Plano's Children's gives injured athletes a new center
Submitted Photo -
13-year-old patient Bailee Bloodworth works with physical therapist Jill Bishop.
By Andrew Snyder
asnyder@acnpapers.com
McKinney resident Bailee Bloodworth, a 13-year-old basketball and tennis athlete for Evans Middle School, was the first patient to sit in the waiting room of the latest addition to Children's Medical Center at Legacy, the Sports Medical Center, which opened for care on Thursday. A wall-mounted television resting above a jersey signed by Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki piped in an ESPN broadcast as Bloodworth waited to be called to see Dr. Shane Miller for the center's first appointment.
"We're really excited about the new facility here, because we think it offers the highest level of care for young athletes with sports related injuries in the area," Miller said. "The facilities now accompany the level of training and the team we've assembled here of pediatric sports specialists. We now have the space for the clinic as well as our physical therapy gym to round out our Sports Medical Center."
With sports contributing to an estimated one-third of childhood injuries, a center devoted to the treatment of school-age athletes, though not common, has a definite population to serve. Factor in the fact that the open growth plates of children necessitate different treatment than adults, and special attention becomes even more appropriate.
"There are very few pediatric-focused sports medicine programs in this area," said Brandee Schmidt, program manager for the SMC. "There's one over at Cook, but otherwise the programs generally blanket adults and kids. The fact that this one is dedicated to the comprehensive care of pediatric and adolescent patients is unique."
Though the physical seems tantamount in a sports clinic, other factors aren't ignored. Treatment at the SMC is holistic, covering additional factors such as nutrition and psychology. Miller is one of two current physicians responsible for this care. A specialist in sports medicine and pediatrics, he was at the University of Colorado Health Science Center in Denver, Colo., before coming to Children's.
In many ways, Miller is the ideal man to have front and center on opening day, as he adds to the synthesis of athletics and medicine promoted at the SMC, where sports memorabilia hangs on the walls of examination rooms.
"When you talk to him, he's all sports," Schmidt said. "That's what you want to see when a parent comes in saying, 'They hurt themselves on the football field.' He's going to ask them ten questions about how this foot was planted and when did this happen. He'll know what kind of tackle it was. So he's really talking sports with our patients, but he's using that to help determine how the injury occurred, what happened, what tests he might need to have, whether an x-ray is necessary or he can just do a physical."
The program's other current physician is Dr. Philip Wilson, a driving force behind the program's creation and a specialist in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine, well-versed in the problems of young athletic patients he's already been treating for years. Schmidt said now he has just added publicity and his name on a new door.
A third doctor will start in the coming weeks.
Bloodworth, the first of six opening-day patients, is being treated for knee pain which she associates with a basketball injury suffered last year that seemed to disappear, only to show up again Friday. After consulting with Miller, she was moved into the rehabilitation room to serve as a model for the centerpiece of the SMC. Reserved for recovering athletes, the area will allow patients to work through injuries alongside their peers and away from the mismatches of generic rehabilitation, which would see them paired with geriatric patients, or the infants rehabilitating in Children's.
"You've got a little bit of a psychological improvement when you're not putting those both in the same room; when you have a crying baby on the floor, is how I suggest it, versus having another athlete beside you that may be a few weeks ahead of you in their rehab, which could be incentive for them to improve," Schmidt said.
Surrounded by therapists, nurses and physicians specializing in young athletes, Miller said the SMC provides a different environment that promotes recovery. State-of-the-art gadgets help too, as the gym features movement analysis courtesy of Dartfish software and muscular strength readings via its Biodex system. Dartfish is used by Olympians to record and replay their performances while applying such effects as overlays of past runs, slow motion or the ability to stop time altogether at specific points.
Patients can use this technology to see how their recovery is progressing as they walk or run on the gym's treadmills and, in that way, learn to help the process along.
"You can actually show the child, 'You know what, you're really not stepping as far with this leg as you are with the other leg, so we need to work on that,'" Schmidt said. "So we're giving them visual feedback that they're going to say, 'Ok, I'm going to take a bigger step with my right leg,' or whatever it might be."
The SMC will also use Dartfish and Biodex to provide information to researchers around the nation. Outreach efforts are also being applied locally, as the center has an athletic trainer on staff whose job it is to meet with athletic directors, coaches and trainers from the surrounding schools and athletic organizations. This work is part of a plan to get the word out about the new facility and provide medical information to coaches, such as what injuries to expect during the season and how to respond.
Video: 13-year-old Bailee Bloodworth works with physical therapist Jill Bishop
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