DON’T LOOK BACK, KEN

HEALTH The famed Aerobics Center may have to work out a bit harder for clients, because there’s a new competitor in town. In March, Baylor Medical Center dedicated the Tom Landry Sports Medicine and Research Center, a 320, 000 square-foot health/rehabilitation mega-center. The high-tech complex houses six subcenters, including an aquatics center and a sports science research center. DR. KENNETH COOPER, founder of the Aerobics Center, may feel the hot breath of a rival at his back, but officials at Baylor downplay any talk of a sweat-center showdown.

“We’re not positioning ourselves to compete with the Aerobics Center, ” says DAVID EVANS, managing director of the Landry Center. Evans, however, is quick to offer myriad differences between the Landry Center and the Ae-robics Center. For instance, the Landry Center will open its doors to outpatient groups, such as people with eating disorders or substance abusers, during work hours when most health clubs are virtually empty.

More significant, Evans says, is that the Landry Center, through Baylor Medical, will offer the kind of follow-up care that health clubs (well, yes, like the Aerobics Centerl don’t. “A health club can diagnose high blood pressure, but then they tell people, ’here are the results, see ya’ later andgood luck, ’ ” Evans explains.

Baylor officials say they don’t intend to put up billboards or run any radio ads, but the famous name of a certain fedora-topped ex-coach should help draw people’s interest. “He is certainly well-known and respected around Dallas, ” Evans says.