GAINESVILLE, Texas (KTEN) — North Texas Medical Center in Gainesville is once again offering a free seminar for patients who are getting ready for joint replacement surgery.

The hospital had to suspend its “Joint Camp” with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was back on Wednesday.

“It’s a camp we’ve been doing for five years now,” said Joseph Christian, Director of Therapy Services.

Pre-pandemic, the classes typically served around 8 to 12 patients with their families, and the hospital had prepared to add an extra day a month before COVID.

Knowing what to do before and after joint replacement surgery helps ensure the procedure goes well.

“Prior to the surgery there’s things you need to do,” Christian said. “After the surgery there’s things that you should do. And all of that, we just talk about it in here.”

It’s also a chance to ask questions and clarify things during the slideshow presentation. And everyone also receives a folder with information they can keep.

It helped John Wurtz know what to to before and after his total knee replacement surgery.

“They did an excellent job on covering the basics of before, after, and the various types of surgery and also the appliances and things they put in your knee, which I’d never seen before,” he said.