Story by: Heather  Harbin and Chris McCrory

Yesterday, Henry Mayo Hospital unveiled a newly expanded Physical Therapy and Sports Rehabilitation Center in a public ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The clinic has been open for about six years, but on Sept. 24 grew to almost 3,000 square feet in order to serve more patients with a broader range of treatment.

These treatments include the state-of-the-art AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill, which gives patients recovering from surgery or injury a chance to work out without pain.

The treadmill works by holding the runner above the moving track in a cradle, effectively changing their body weight as they run, creating a feeling similar to that of being on the moon or another planet with lower gravity than earth.

Junior Macie Hartman of Valencia High School said, “It kind of felt like i was floating, but also like walking in water with a little less weight.”

Hartman has knee injuries, and is in physical therapy to correct them.

“It was something cool that I could try without any pain,” she said. ”I feel like it would be a good way to get back to where I was before.”

Mike Saguibo is a physical therapist and supervisor of the Golden Valley clinic.

He and the other doctors at the facility treat all sorts of medical issues.

“Anything and everything for rehab goes on here. We treat sports injuries, operations and surgery (patients), and any kind of pain,” said Saguibo. “We’re also doing sports enhancement, and we have athletic trainers in the schools to help any injured athlete get back to the playing field.”

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Saguibo believes that the size of the clinic is a help to facilitate patients.

“People’s first reactions are that they’re surprised it’s this big,” he said, “and we have all the modern equipment to treat patients.”

Certificates of congratulations were presented to the hospital staff during the event by a representative of Congressman Steve Knight and the mayor of Santa Clarita.

Roslyn Wayland from the office of Supervisor Michael Antonovich also congratulated the staff on the addition.

“Thank you for bringing this service to this side of town,” she said.   

This center is a secondary location for Henry Mayo, meant to serve the east side of the Santa Clarita

Glenn Dabatos Is the Director of Operations for Henry Mayo Hospital.

“Part of our mission is to provide healthcare to the Santa Clarita Valley,” he said. “Our goal here is to focus on sports performance, because we’re already collaborating with the high schools in the area.”

The clinic provides an athletic trainer to the Saugus, Golden Valley, and Valencia High Schools as part of this collaboration, working with the sports medicine classes offered as electives.

Dabatos wants to expand the program by providing an individual athletic trainer to work with each school.

“We want to work with their injured athletes,” said Dabatos, “and in the future if they’re injured, we want to work with them and have a facility for them to get better.”

He also stressed the importance of growth in the hospital alongside the town.

“This is our way of giving back to the community, because Henry Mayo has grown from where it was ten years ago to where it is now,” Dabatos said. “You can’t just keep taking. You have to figure out a way to give back.”