By Lookout Staff

March 22, 2012 -- Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica will create a state-of-the-art orthopedic and sports medicine center that will provide quality care from treatment to rehabilitation, hospital officials announced this month.

The Chan Soon Shiong Musculo-Skeletal Science Center will integrate sports medicine, sports performance science, physical therapy, stem cell therapy and surgical training, hospital officials said. Clinicians will provide acute care and conduct state of the art clinical trials.

It also will incorporate two top sports medicine facilities that currently work with the Lakers, Dodgers, Angels and Kings, among other area teams.

“There is a great need to integrate sports training with physical therapy and rehabilitation, and with state of the art acute care at every level, from high school to college to professional sports,” said Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. “To our knowledge, there is currently no institution in the country dedicated to addressing musculo-skeletal conditions in this comprehensive fashion."

Funded by the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, the center includes the addition of both the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic and the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group (SMOG).

Kerlan-Jobe the largest and most successful sports medicine fellowship program in the country, will move its practice at the Howard Hughes Center in Los Angeles to Saint John's, where it will become an outpatient department. It also will move its outpatient clinic in Beverly Hills and all of its inpatient practices to Saint John’s campus.

SMOG will expand its 25-year affiliation with the Health Center by converting its clinic on the fourth floor of the 2020 Santa Monica Boulevard building in Santa Monica into a Saint John’s outpatient department. SMOG will also continue to provide outpatient and inpatient services at Saint John’s.

"Having the support of these two healthcare leaders will make Saint John’s a global destination for advanced orthopedic and sports medicine care," hospital officials said. "Through their joint efforts, Saint John’s will also be able to better serve the community, especially to benefit Los Angeles’s young student athletes."