On or Off the Field: New Baptist Health Orthopedic Complex Offers Care for All

You focus on the ball as its tight spiral sends it speeding downfield. At the last second, you push powerfully from a squat position. You don’t catch a TD pass or even feel the turf under your feet, but it seems like you’re in the middle of the action. From your point of view ― in a physical therapy session to strengthen your knee at the new Baptist Health orthopedic complex overlooking the Miami Dolphins training facility ― you practically are.

It’s the kind of view that’s possible only from the state-of-the-art 17,000-square-foot facility, where Dolphins players and staff ― and the public ― can receive care from the experts at Baptist Health Orthopedic Care.

(Watch now: Former Miami Dolphins players Joe Rose and Jimmy Cefalo recently met with physicians from the Baptist Health Orthopedic Care team for an inside look at the new Baptist Health orthopedic complex overlooking the Dolphins training facility.)

Offering comprehensive and convenient orthopedic care, the facility is home to orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine specialists, physical therapists, and others specially trained in treating orthopedic problems. In addition to high-tech diagnostic equipment such as 3D MRI and thin-cut CT, exam rooms and rehab/physical therapy areas, and procedure and casting rooms, the complex offers performance and endurance evaluation, including body mass and V0₂ max testing. The building also features open architecture and a warm atmosphere.

“With its ideal central location, the orthopedic complex will provide even more members of the community with our trusted care,” said Javier Hernandez-Lichtl, CEO of Baptist Health Doctors Hospital and Baptist Health Orthopedic Institute. “This new facility serves as a symbol of Baptist Health’s dedication to both our community and our partnership with the Miami Dolphins.”

The two organizations have been partners for years both on and off the field, offering health and safety programs for youth sports and coaches. A landmark location at the Miami-Dade/Broward line in Miami Gardens, the Baptist Health Orthopedic Complex sits across the street from Hard Rock Stadium and offers high-quality care to athletes and non-athletes alike.

“We are excited for the community to ‘go where the pros go’ and experience the same level of expertise we provide the Miami Dolphins,” said John Uribe, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon and chief medical executive with Baptist Health Orthopedic Care. Dr. Uribe is also the head team physician of the Miami Dolphins.

On a recent pre-opening tour of the new facility, former Miami Dolphins player Joe Rose, host of the Joe Rose Show on 560 WQAM, met with physicians from the Baptist Health Orthopedic Care team for an inside look ― and even encountered a few other retired players along the way.

One advantage to having physical therapy in the same building as physician offices is that vital communication between therapists and doctors is made easier and more efficient, as primary care sports medicine physician Michael Swartzon, M.D., explained to Mr. Rose on the walk-through. “Me being right upstairs and the physical therapist right downstairs makes it convenient for the patient, but also for us to communicate,” he said. “If my patient’s coming down here and things aren’t going well, the physical therapist can send them right up to see me or can call me to come down.”

Patients don’t need to have orthopedic conditions most common to football players to see a physician at the orthopedic complex. “I’m a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon, which means primarily knee, shoulder and elbow,” said Gautam Yagnik, M.D. “But the building is multi-specialty, not just sports medicine. We have total joint surgeons, foot and ankle, hand, and spine. We have a very active population in South Florida. The patients get the perfect doctor for their issue.”

The orthopedic complex is located at 19955 NW 27 Avenue, Suite 200, Miami Gardens. The entrance can be found at Gate 11. Patients must have an appointment to receive care. Visit BaptistHealth.net/OrthoComplex for more information.