LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Ochsner Lafayette General broke ground Thursday in a project that aims to bring the most comprehensive orthopedic care to Acadiana.

Two years ago, the medical center partnered with world-renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews to create The Ochsner Andrews Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Institute.

Patrick Gandy, CEO of Ochsner Lafayette, and said the medical center is "transforming sports, medicine and orthopedic care for the for the community" by brining together a multidisciplinary team under one roof.

Orthopedic surgeon Brian Etier said the goal is to provide the top sports medicine care in Acadiana.

"This facility allows us to do that. I mean, we're proud of our sports medicine program. Now we take care of over 8,000 athletes a year. We take care of over 30 high schools. But now we're going to have a facility to match our program," Etier said.

Andrews knows the goal is to keep young athletes on the field, and not in the operating room.

"It's easy to all of a sudden get them overworked and then injuries pop up. So the research that we're going to do is based on all of that," Andrews said.

"Our motto is to keep them on the playing field and out of the operating room. So there's a lot of things that we can do to to help curtail the injury rates," Andrews continued.

The expansion adds 17,000 square feet to the property, and a 14,000 square-foot facility dedicated to physical therapy and sports medicine services. The new facility is expected next fall.

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