Through a continued investment and commitment to serve Champaign County, this fall Mary Rutan Hospital kicked off athletic training services at no cost to Urbana City Schools. Mary Rutan Hospital is the official sports medicine provider for the school through a two-year contract, providing athletic training coverage for the school’s athletic programs.
This brings to five the number of schools this school-year receiving free athletic training services from Mary Rutan Hospital. Besides Urbana, schools include the Bellefontaine, Benjamin Logan, Indian Lake and Riverside school districts. That is a financial investment of nearly $250,000 in services to area schools.
Reduced operating budgets and limited resources at rural and small school districts nationwide make it difficult for schools to fund athletic training service for their sports programs. Mary Rutan Hospital officials say such services are important for the safety of student athletes, so the decision was made to allocate additional financial resources to recruit athletic trainers to assist the schools and provide needed services to area high schools.
Mary Rutan Hospital has provided health care services to the residents of Champaign County for many years. To provide convenient, easy access of care, a clinic was opened by Mary Rutan Hospital in Urbana in the summer of 2015. In one short year, the Urbana Clinic outgrew its location and recently moved to a new location with a larger space and expanded services, including physical therapy, orthopedic, obstetric, family medicine, pediatric, urology, general surgery, laboratory and x-ray services.
“We are honored to be working with Urbana City Schools with a continued focus on the wellness and safety of their student athletes. The expansion of AT services to Urbana City Schools is yet another example of our commitment in providing quality health and wellness services to Champaign County families”, said Tammy Allison, VP of community relations.
Mary Rutan Hospital’s certified and licensed athletic trainers will provide game and practice coverage and are onsite to provide immediate attention when a student athlete is injured. The trainer will provide initial injury assessment and first aid, establish rehabilitation programs for injured athletes, apply protective taping and padding, concussion testing and counsel athletes in areas such as nutrition and conditioning. It is also the responsibility of the athletic trainer to determine if injured athletes may continue to participate in their sport and when they will be allowed to return to participation or whether they may need to be referred for additional therapy services or an orthopedic specialist. This determination is done in conjunction with the parents, coaches and the athlete’s primary care physician. They will also provide guidance and assistance to coaches during preseason conditioning and throughout the season.
Longtime Urbana athletic trainer Ed Wisner will remain the trainer at Urbana City Schools under the contract with Mary Rutan Hospital.
For more information about Mary Rutan Hospital Sports Medicine Program and Athletic Training Services call 937-593-0822.
