The Jameson Crane Sports Medicine Institute will be located in the Athletics District on North Campus of Ohio State. Credit: Courtesy of OSU
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is building what will be one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive dedicated sports medicine facilities.
The Jameson Crane Sports Medicine Institute will be a new 116,000-square-foot sports medicine facility with space for more than 15 different specialty programs, surgical suites, four research and performance labs and 160 sports medicine faculty and staff.
“The Jameson Crane Sports Medicine Institute will be a focus of collaboration between the academic, medical and athletic programs to make the Ohio State University a national leader in academic sports medicine,” said Dr. Christopher Kaeding, executive director of OSU Sports Medicine.
The construction of the institute began in October at the corner of Ackerman Road and Fred Taylor Drive on North Campus, with an overall budget of $45 million, to be paid through university funds, developmental funds and university debt, and is projected to be completed in fall 2016, according to Dan Hedman, a spokesman for the Office of Administration and Planning.
The facility is being constructed to provide patients with the best possible care from a combination of different sports-medicine experts.
“The OSU Sports Medicine program is a multidisciplinary, multi-mission integrated model whose value is creating synergies and collaborations between all the diverse areas of expertise at OSU that promote physical activity across the lifespan,” Kaeding said.
The building will incorporate several specialty programs, such as sports nutrition, sports psychology and sports performance. When it is completed and operating in a fixed location, Kaeding said the facility will provide a wide range of personalized care, research and educational opportunities through these programs.
“Having asthma, nutrition, athletic training, physical therapy, surgical, concussion, performance, exercise physiology, and other clinical expertise, as well as biomechanics, clinical and basic researchers together will break down silos and create a one-stop shop of clinical expertise for our patients,” he said. “Similarly, having the research and education missions integrated with clinical care produces a culture of excellence and high performance.”
The facility will also include research labs, clinics and procedure rooms, offices, a physical therapy center, MRI and X-ray technology, and operating rooms, Kaeding said.
“The ambulatory surgery suite will be home to six operating rooms with two initially shelled and surgery support spaces with 19 pre- and post-op rooms,” he said.
The institute will be used by OSU sports medicine patients, Kaeding said.
Young athletes who suffer injuries from sports make up over 40 percent of emergency-room visits, Kaeding said. Additionally, the second most common reason for physician office visits related to injury by adults aged 42 to 60 is sports-related injuries.
“Our physicians, researchers and specialists are dedicated to personalized care that keeps people healthy and active with expertise in injury-risk reduction,” he said.
In addition to specialists, researchers and physicians, there will be a number of medical experts that will be working in the new building, Kaeding said. Some of these experts will be surgeons, athletic trainers, sports psychologists, engineers, physical therapists, sports nutritionists and nurses, among many others.
Matt Bogard, a fourth-year in public affairs and fencing-team member, said he thinks that the experts and professionals who will be working in the building will be beneficial.
“It seems like it will improve the level of education in the sports medicine program here because people will be exposed to better doctors and trainers,” he said. “With a building totally dedicated to sports medicine, I believe that the level specialty and expertise will improve.”
The sports medicine institute is named after Jameson Crane, a 1947 OSU graduate, football player and the chairman emeritus of the Crane Group. The name was approved by OSU’s Board of Trustees in April 2013 in honor of Crane and his family, who gave a $13.5 million gift as a tribute to Crane, $10 million of which was secured for the project, according to Hedman.
“The new Jameson Crane Sports Medicine Institute will put Ohio State at the forefront of the rapidly growing field of sports medicine by integrating the resources of OSU’s academic, medical and athletic campuses,” Kaeding said.
