OGDEN — McKay-Dee Hospital sports therapists have a personal relationship with the Australian Olympic ski team and a New York Met’s pitcher as they travel the world and work out sports injuries.

Those same therapists help Davis County residents who head up to McKay-Dee with sports injuries, stress injuries or for recovery from surgery. The hospital uses the latest technology in diagnosing and treating injuries while they keep in mind long-standing medical knowledge.

“Our team is currently providing care for the best athletes in the world,” said Tres Ferrin, director of McKay-Dee sports medicine. “Our fist goal in working with anyone is to look at what we need to accomplish.”

When a person goes in for his or her first evaluation, it is spent with a trainer and a therapist. Those specialists will also try to find someone qualified in whatever area the injury is in. Those injuries vary from a current Met’s pitcher with a shoulder injury to a person who has decided to start running, but began too hard, too fast.

“For someone to simply start running can be hazardous,” said Ferrin. “People need to begin walking, interspersing it slowly with running and slowly gaining strength and endurance.”

The center at McKay-Dee Hospital is equipped with several different kinds of exercise bikes, treadmills, weight machines, medicine balls and therapists. There is also a room designed to replicate an athlete's sport.

“We can pitch, play volleyball, run and jump in here and it is designed to test an athlete’s abilities,” said Ferrin.

Another piece of equipment McKay-Dee uses is designed like a video game. It is used for rehabilitation and therapy, but tries to keep people working by making it fun. “If exercise was more like a video game, people might be more interested,” said Ferrin.

Exercises start out simple and are based on an individual’s needs. The center has experience with competitive athletes, recreational athletes and people who are just ready to go back to work after an injury or surgery.

McKay-Dee encourages people to begin exercising, but start slow and work your muscles the way they should be.

“Research has shown that if we condition ourselves throughout our lives, there is no reason we can’t keep doing the activities we do now,” said Ferrin.