Stony Brook University, headquartered in Stony Brook, NY, recently announced its school of health technology and management’s (SHTM) collaboration with NextStep Fitness, Los Angeles, to build a fitness and wellness facility in New York state tailored to the needs of individuals with paralysis and spinal cord injuries. 

Samuel L. Stanley, Jr, MD, Stony Brook University president, explains that the Stony Brook Facility will be the first NextStep location linked to an academic research center. A news release notes that a June 7 benefit kicked off a capital campaign by NextStep with the goal to raise $1.5 million toward the facility’s development. Upon completion, the facility will be named the NextStep Fitness Center at Stony Brook Medicine. 

Stony Brook reports that the new rehabilitation, fitness, and wellness facility is slated to be built in a freestanding building that will be adjacent to the University’s Rehabilitation Research and Movement Performance (RRAMP) Laboratory.

Craig Lehman, dean of the school of SHTM, emphasizes the significance and impact of the facility, “There are an estimated 80,000 residents living with spinal cord injuries, with 600 additional individuals who experience an injury each year. In addition, thousands more residents experience walking and mobility problems due to disease like multiple sclerosis (MS). An estimated 9,000 residents live with MS in New York. There is tremendous need for a facility like this and we are grateful that [NextStep founder Janne Kouri] and NextStep are working with us to make this happen,” Lehman says.

Kouri’s reported goal is to open locations around the country and is currently planning two additional facilities, one in New York at Stony Brook, and another in the Washington D.C. area.

Source: Stony Brook University