• by Karl Greenberg , August 10, 2011

The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), a New York orthopedic hospital center, has signed as Official Hospital of The PGA of America. HSS will partner with The PGA on future health and wellness initiatives, including sponsorship of a program called "Let's Move On Course!" launching at the upcoming 93rd PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.

The deal makes HSS the Official Hospital for events like the PGA Championship, 2012 Ryder Cup, Senior PGA Championship. The hospital is also co-presenting sponsor of the PGA Winter Championships.

For "Let's Move On Course!" HSS will partner with The PGA of America to distribute 25,000 branded pedometers to spectators on site, Aug. 8-14, at the 93rd PGA Championship. The program is designed to get golf fans to take to the course on foot, and keep track of their steps.

The "Let's Move on Course!," which the PGA launched last year, ties into First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign to prevent childhood obesity by encouraging healthier food alternatives and greater physical activity for children.

The deal with the PGA is "actually extremely important, symbolically, for what we are all about," says Louis A. Shapiro, president and CEO, Hospital for Special Surgery.

"The hospital is primarily directed toward helping people getting their mobility back. When people come to us -- whether with disease, injury or wear and tear -- they are often not mobile: they frequently can't work, and sometimes they can't easily do anything. And golf is, for us, symbolic of mobility."

He says that the "Let's Move!" health-awareness vector of the program is geared toward preventing injury and promoting wellness and fitness. "Golf is a great way to do that."

Shapiro points out that the hospital has relationships with most of the New York region's professional sports teams, but that those relationships are less about awareness than treatment of individual pro athletes."

The program with the PGA, however, is about expanding the HSS brand's reach, notes Shapiro. "Although professional golfers come to us as well, the relationship with the PGA is different. It has nothing to do, per se, with the professional golfers. This is really about building awareness," he says, adding that the Hospital for Special Surgery is the only independent, academic medical center in the U.S. focusing explicitly on care and treatment of musculoskeletal injury and disease. "And we are the largest such hospital in the world. So, having this relationship with the association is a great vehicle for us to educate PGA clientele."

Shapiro says golf is the right recreational activity for such a partnership because people of all ages play. Also, golf is seeing new popularity among younger consumers, and has found a sweet spot among young boomers who are likely to think of themselves as perpetual 20-somethings with 20-something body parts.

"Golfing cuts cross all demographic segments. For younger people it's about keeping fit and not getting injured. And then we have stories of people who love to play golf but develop arthritis, or their knees wear out. And they find their way to HSS."

Fifteen to 20% of patients come from beyond a 75-mile radius of HSS, according to Shapiro, and 2% to 3% of the hospital's clientele is international.

"I think as our relationship [with the PGA] develops we will take advantage of multiple opportunities to increase awareness both of our relationship with the PGA and of the hospital's capabilities," says Shapiro, who says digital marketing efforts may be in the offing. "There's more to come."