Intermountain Press Release

Murray—Five-time Olympic Gold medalist Eric Heiden, whose record-setting performance in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid is considered one of the greatest feats in Olympic history, is pulling up his roots and moving his sports medicine practice to Utah, where he has been named medical director of Intermountain Healthcare's TOSH-The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Murray, one of the premier orthopedic and sports medicine centers in the nation.

Heiden, an orthopedic surgeon who has practiced medicine in Sacramento and who helped establish the sports medicine program at the University of California-Davis, is moving to TOSH, along with Dr. Massimo Testa, an internationally-renowned sports medicine researcher, and Heiden's wife, Karen, who is an orthopedic hand surgeon.

They will join a surgical team at TOSH that is considered one of the best in the nation. All surgeons at TOSH are fellowship-trained and are leaders in their field.

"This addition to our team is the result of what all of our people - physicians, physical therapists, nurses, and everyone else - have done to build our reputation and attract extraordinary people to our team," says Lynn Rasmussen, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at TOSH.

"We're excited to have them here and look forward to being friends and colleagues, working in a facility that brings all the components of patient care together, which is unique in the United States," adds TOSH orthopedic surgeon Hugh West, MD.

Heiden has served as team physician for the NBA's Sacramento Kings and WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, as well as several national and Olympic speedskating teams, including the U.S. contingent that competed in the recent 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. At TOSH, he will work closely with the U.S. speedskating, snowboarding, ski, and cycling teams. TOSH is the official sports medicine provider for the U.S. speedskating, ski, and snowboard teams.

Testa has served as team physician for the 7-Eleven, Motorola and Mapei pro-cycling teams. He is a member of the Italian Association of Cycling Physicians and the Sporting Safety and Conditions Commission of the International Cycling Union (UCI).

TOSH has established itself as one of the premier orthopedic surgery, rehab, and sports performance-training centers in the country. TOSH offers state-of-the-art motion analysis, nutrition, bone density, sports training, pool therapy, surgical services, and human performance testing programs. More than 13,000 square feet of physical therapy, surgical, and physician office space have been added to the 55,000 square-foot facility to better serve patients. TOSH also recently added a comprehensive spine treatment program that offers comprehensive back and neck care, as well as life and stress management courses, a back-to-golf program designed to correct swing mechanics, and functional testing and restoration for patients with back pain. TOSH serves more than 60,000 patients a year from throughout the western United States.

The Heidens and Dr. Testa have been recruited over the years by hospitals throughout the nation, but the opportunity to practice at TOSH was too good to pass up, they say. "We were really cemented in Sacramento, but within the sports world TOSH has a great legacy, and I look forward to being part of the great team that's already established here and is known worldwide for its excellence in surgical, clinical, and rehabilitation medicine," says Dr. Heiden.

Dr. Testa says he's excited about being part of TOSH's legacy and being in a community where so many elite athletes live and train. "I see this as the possibility to realize what was a dream with Eric for a long time to work in a facility that offers everything from a medical standpoint from the surgery, the prevention, the rehabilitation, and the performance side," he says.

Eric's record-setting performance at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, is considered one of the greatest feats in Olympic history. He won five of the six gold medals the U.S. Olympic team won that year. The sixth medal was won in the U.S. hockey team's "miracle on ice." "If Heiden had been a country, he would have finished third in the final gold medal standings, behind the Soviet Union (10) and East Germany (nine)," says ESPN.com.

"Just to have him here every day is going to be amazing for the national (speedskating) team," says fellow gold medalist Chris Witty, who trains at TOSH.

"We have a rich legacy at TOSH that keeps expanding," says Richard Smith, TOSH's chief operating officer. "We're excited to have Eric, Max, and Karen join our team - and we're excited to offer ever-increasing levels of expertise and experience to the athletes and the others who we treat."