Henry Ford gives glimpse of new sport medicine facility near Pistons HQ

Evan James Carter
The Detroit News

Detroit — A new Henry Ford Health System facility that partnered with the Detroit Pistons will open soon and feature state-of-the-art care in sports medicine and rehabilitation, the health care system said during a preview this week.

The $37 million William Clay Ford Center for Athletic Medicine at 690 Amsterdam in Midtown sits just a few blocks from the first sports medicine center originally named after the late owner of the Detroit Lions.

A Henry Ford employee demonstrates the Simi Lab during a preview of the William Clay Ford Center for Athletic Medicine.

The first facility, which opened in 1996, was renamed Henry Ford Medical Center-Second and will remain open along with the new facility.

"This is what we call an encore. We began about 20 years ago with our original center for athletic medicine just two blocks out," Henry Ford Health System CEO Wright Lassiter III said.

"... What we'll be able to do here goes far beyond what we can do in the current facility and so we're really excited about this opportunity."

Master of ceremonies Bob Riney looks on as Detroit Lions owner Martha Ford and Henry Ford Health System CEO and President Wright Lassiter III cut the ribbon on the new William Clay Ford Center for Athletic Medicine.

The new specialty sports medicine center is part of the broader Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center.

Henry Ford Medical System owns the land that the medical center and the Pistons headquarters and training facility is on. The Pistons own their building, which is connected by a 125-foot walkway to the medical center. 

Parsons said the health system expects to be seeing patients at the new facility by Oct. 15. The Pistons expect to be in their side of the facility in early October.

Wednesday's preview of the facility was attended by Lions owner Martha Ford, wife of the late William Clay Ford, Mayor Mike Duggan, Arn Tellem, vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons, and Ted Parsons, chairman of the Henry Ford Health System's Department of Orthopedic Surgery. 

"This remarkable facility is the result of a marriage between the Detroit Pistons who came back home and the Henry Ford Health System that never left," Duggan said.

The new specialty sports medicine center is part of the broader Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center.

The 54,000 square feet, three-story facility will provide a range of care, including sports medicine, orthopedics, physical and occupational therapy, specialty services such as chiropractics, advanced motion analysis and rehab, officials said.

The advanced motion analysis portion of the facility includes a room with the Simi Reality Motion System.

The Simi lab uses an array of special sensors to give staff data patients' range of motion.

"Our move to Detroit would not have happened without our partnership with Henry Ford," Tellem said. "Our organizations have worked side-by-side to create one of the best developments in medicine in sports. Not in the region, in the world. This is a true game-changer for our team, franchise and the community." 

ecarter@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @EvanJamesCarter