Shelbyville News Article:

Open house impresses

Function, beauty meet at ReNovo

By B.J. Fairchild-Newman
Staff writer

Published: Friday, September 25, 2009 8:13 AM US/eastern

A steady stream of proud and curious ShelbyCounty residents toured ReNovoOrthopaedicCenter on Thursday, and there were plenty of “oohs and ahhs” as staff members pointed out the state-of-the-art features of the building.

Built by Runnebohm Construction for Major Health Partners off Bassett Road in IntelliplexPark at a cost of $7 million, the building opened in July to rave reviews from patients as well as medical personnel. It houses SportWorksRehabilitationCenter, Major Sports Medicine and Family Orthopaedics and RehabilitationCenter, or FORCE, and tour guides walked people through all three businesses.

Visitors on Thursday included a good representation of city and county government officials, local business leaders and employees of Major Health Partners mixed in with interested members of the general public. Several people were overheard to say, “It is so wonderful for us to have something like this in Shelbyville.”

Denny Schnepp, vice president of physician services, rehabilitation and materials for Major Hospital, was part of the planning for ReNovo from the beginning of brainstorming sessions that started two years ago. In the short time since the facility opened, Schnepp said that business to the three practices has increased 16 to 18 percent.

“People ask me what I would change if I could,” he said, “and I can honestly say, ‘Nothing.’”

Schnepp said that it is “testimony to the amount of time and thought that went into the design process” that no one has come to him to ask for changes or suggest that something in the design would have worked better if executed differently.

“The building works beautifully,” Schnepp said. “I can’t think of a thing that I would change.”

One of the most impressive features of ReNovo is the Hydroworx rehabilitation pool, complete with a floor that moves up and down so that wheelchairs can roll directly into the pool. Patients needing to strengthen their muscles can walk against powerful jets of water that simulate the resistance of a regular treadmill while video cameras show the patient’s performance on a computer screen.

Kelly Mitchell, manager of rehabilitation services at ReNovo, demonstrated the pool on Thursday and said that she is working with a variety of patients who are benefiting from its therapy, including some with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, knee and hip replacements and stroke victims.

Schnepp added that the pool is “very busy,” and patients needing this therapy no longer must drive to Indianapolis. He said that the doctors at ReNovo are telling him that they are seeing more patients from surrounding areas who are coming to Shelbyville for treatment to take advantage of what ReNovo has to offer.

Mitchell and occupational therapist Nancy Ewing also demonstrated the occupational therapy section of SportWorks. County council member Tony Titus tried out a chair intended to simulate the motion of a truck, a useful tool in determining if an injured driver can return to work.

The tour reinforced the reason that the three practices work so well combined in the ReNovo building by stressing how the therapy in SportWorks can benefit the patients of Dr. Gregory Howard in Major Sports Medicine and surgeons Sean Garringer and Kevin Lemme from FORCE.

Schnepp said that by locating all three in one building, patients receive better service and convenience while Major Health Partners saved money by building one facility instead of three separate ones. The doctors and staff of each practice can easily communicate with each other, and they can share expensive X-ray machines and other equipment.

An extra office was constructed as part of ReNovo so this area is available for an additional practice. Major Health Partners is looking for a related specialty, such as pain management or a spine surgeon, to use the space.

Thursday’s rainy weather didn’t allow outdoor tours of ReNovo, but the facility was designed with “green” environmentally-friendly features. Pervious concrete in the parking lot allows storm water to naturally drain to the soil underneath and then to the adjacent floodway, and specially designed plumbing fixtures and electronic sensors reduce water use. The windows maximize the use of natural daylight, and sensors turn off electric lighting when it is not needed. In addition, three wind spires generate enough energy to operate the lights in the parking lot and rehabilitation equipment.

Major Health Partners is also restoring Bassett Ditch, which is now home to birds and other wildlife, and a road to connect ReNovo to the BenesseOncologyCenter is in the planning stages. ReNovo was deliberately designed to blend with the modern brick and stone exterior of the oncology center without looking like a copy.