JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A new program at Baptist Health in Jacksonville promises to help patients recover from joint replacement surgery quicker and get back to a pain-free lifestyle.

Here's why it's a big deal. One million Americans get a knee or hip replaced every year. Millions more are living with joint pain.

William Pujadas, an orthopedic surgeon at Baptist Downtown, said knee and hip joints are deteriorating more than in previous generations.

"We're seeing more and more (joint) injuries at this time in what we call the baby boomers," Pujadas said. "They're very active. There's a high focus on physical activity and mental and physical well-being. So a lot of patients have actually worn the knee and hip joints out a lot quicker than their parents."

When the hip and knee joints deteriorate it, people experience pain in the form of arthritis. Cartilage, which acts as shock absorber in the knees and hips, wears out.

Symptoms are often described as a burning sensation and swelling. Often there is bone-on-bone contact which makes it next to impossible to walk for even short distances, let alone participate in any activity that requires endurance. Obviously, those limitations diminish a patient's quality of life.

In the past, hospitals treated joint patients as they did other patients -- they were allowed to stay in bed until the post-surgery pain dissipated. But Baptist Health changed its approach a few months ago, as more and more patients opted for joint replacement surgery.

"In this center, we treat patients as if they're not sick," Pujadas said. "They get out of bed early the next morning after surgery. We start them on a program of intensive physical therapy with hand-picked nurses, hand-picked physical therapists -- an aggressive program and it's done in a community setting within the hospital."

One of the hallmarks of the program is the unique approach to physical therapy. Relatives are used as coaches; former joint replacement patients are volunteers. Patients go through their recovery together in a group therapy setting, which creates an atmosphere of competition: their families encourage them and they push each other.

Rose Edmondson, nurse manager in the orthopedic unit, said the process has already shown results.

"You have some individuals who may not feel their best that day, but then they go to the group therapy room and they feel energized because they see everybody else going through the same thing, so they encourage each other," Edmondson said.

Channel 4 is airing a prime-time program program Tuesday at 8 p.m. that profiles two patients who recently went through the Baptist Center for Joint Replacement:

• Jonathan Graham is a 45-year-old former athlete who elected to have his right knee replaced after 22 years of joint pain.
• Cheryl Masters is a 63 year old who had her left hip replaced 5 weeks after successful right hip replacement surgery.

The special follows both through surgery, therapy, and recovery after they made the decision to live a life without joint pain.