Unique Facility Features Four On-Site Medical Partners
Cincinnati Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek believes Wilmington College’s new Center for Sport Sciences will be the “envy” of larger universities and professional sports teams and a facility distinct in its ability to serve medical needs in the region.
Kremchek, also WC’s medical director, is a founder and owner of Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, which is among the four medical entities that will share the facility with the College. The others with satellite branches at WC’s new center are Chiropractic Care of Cincinnati, Drayer Physical Therapy Institute and CMH Regional Health System’s diagnostic imaging services and its Performance Orthopaedics.
A public ribbon-cutting program will be held Aug. 23, at 2 p.m., at the Center, which is located behind WC’s Hermann Court at 720 Elm St. Self-guided tours and an open house will follow the program through 4 p.m.
WC President Jim Reynolds said the College’s 41,000 square-foot facility represents a unique blend of academic, athletic, recreational, medical and commercial elements rarely seen on the NCAA Division III level.
“It’s a powerful, public-private partnership,” he said in referring to the presence of four, onsite, sports medicine-related offices that will serve not only Wilmington College student-athletes but also provide medical and other health-related services for a significant portion of southwest Ohio.
The $10.4 million Center is home to WC’s nationally prominent athletic training program and other sport sciences, and, with its 40-by-40 yard indoor turf field and related athletic amenities, also accommodates training for essentially all of the College’s 21 sports teams, in addition to giving students additional options for recreational activities.
Kremchek, one of Beacon’s 20 physicians and surgeons, lauded Wilmington’s reputation in athletic training as “going well beyond” the state of Ohio and Beacon’s mutually beneficial relationship with the College.
“This has been a shared vision to create a facility that D1 colleges and professional sports teams will envy,” he said, noting he is confident the Center will provide a springboard for expanding both Beacon’s and the College’s reach and influence in the region. Indeed, Beacon is the sports medicine provider for not only Wilmington College but also for three of the four public schools in Clinton County.
“The goal here for us at Beacon is to not only work with the College and community, and to retain people here in Clinton Country, but also to pull in people from out of the county.”
Drayer, CMH and Chiropractic Care also share that goal.
CMH’s chief executive officer, Greg Nielsen, calls the Center a “game-changing project” as their operation hosts both an imaging center and sports orthopaedic center to complement the other medical providers’ services.
“These are exactly the kinds of innovative collaborations that make top-notch healthcare more accessible in our region,” Nielsen said, noting that Michael Griesser, M.D., and Kevin Hilgenberg, certified physician assistant, will head CMH’s Performance Orthopaedics medical team.
“We can’t wait to get to work and start seeing patients,” he added.
Drayer’s Sam Zinn, doctor of physical therapy and the Institute’s regional vice president, also said the partnership at Wilmington College will allow greater access to care for those in Clinton and surrounding counties.
“This further progresses our mission to actively serve the communities we call home and the patients we treat like family,” Zinn said, noting their Wilmington facility will move from its Rombach Ave. location this month. “We look forward to this endeavor as our communities are able to access great health care close to home.”
Michael Rohlfs, doctor of chiropractic medicine and owner of Chiropractic Care, is “excited to be involved in the cutting edge and proactive environment of sports medicine delivered on a collegiate campus setting.”
He has a 25-year affiliation as the Cincinnati Reds’ chiropractic consultant and has been associated with Beacon for 15 years.
Beacon’s CEO, Glen Prasser, believes the opening of the company’s seventh location in the tri-state area — and third office in as many years — dovetails well with its philosophy of providing service in “the most convenient manner possible” to their clients.
“Over the past three years, we have seen an increasing number of Wilmington area patients make the drive down I-71 to visit one of our Cincinnati locations,” he said. “With the opening of our Wilmington College location, our patients will now have much easier access to our specialized care.”
For Wilmington College, these medical entities will work closely with WC student-athletes that have sustained injuries and with athletic training students eager to gain hands-on learning via clinical experience — without leaving the campus.
Word of the Center has gotten out to college officials across the nation; many of which are intrigued with the concept and have inquired with Terry Rupert, vice president for athletic administration.
“The Center for Sport Sciences is a total sport facility like no other at the NCAA Division III level,” Rupert said. “The Center directly will impact well over half of our student body as they engage in their academic, athletic and recreational pursuits, and is an especially appealing attraction for prospective students.
The 3,000-square-foot, athletic training facility features state-of-the-art classrooms and labs, and is located within easy access of WC’s contiguous sports venues. It offers such amenities as two in-ground hydrotherapy pools, electrical muscle stimulators, and cryo-compression and ultrasound units.
The Center’s 17,400 square-foot sport training facility provides for an all-indoor area with an artificial turf surface. The complex’s west end opens to an outdoor, lighted training field with an artificial turf surface for multiple sports, intramurals and other recreational activities.
“This is more than a new practice facility or a training room or a group of medical offices,” Rupert added. “It is a unique blend of strengths that not only educates, heals, diagnoses, rehabs and trains, but a facility that has a progressive synergy like no other found on any college campus.”
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