Last Updated on September 25, 2018 by cassnetwork
Logansport Memorial Hospital is pleased to be bringing another new service to residents and families in Logansport, Cass County, and the surrounding counties of north central Indiana. The new Logansport Memorial Sports Medicine program, to be launched at the beginning of the 2018- 2019 school year, will feature
partnerships with local school corporations to provide on-site athletic training services and coverage to student athletes. These student athletes will then have direct access to other necessary services, including orthopedics care and foot and ankle care, as well as closely coordinated follow – up care from physical therapy, all to deliver a comprehensive approach in maintaining their sports performance levels or in recovering from an athletic
injury.
Logansport Memorial Sports Medicine will be serving varsity student athletes in the Logansport, Caston, Pioneer, and North Miami school corporations. An athletic trainer who is designated to serve each school will provide full- time coverage for various sporting events.
“While this program is new for us, it combines services that we already have in place to provide access to carethat was previously missing for many of our local school corporations,” comments Perry Gay, President and CEO of Logansport Memorial Hospital. “If student athletes at any of these school corporations were injured during a sporting event, they may have needed to travel some distance to receive proper care and treatment.With our board-certified athletic trainers now on the sidelines at each event, we can deliver the immediate care that’s needed to address the injury until a more thorough assessment can be completed or more specialized care can be provided. Our team is led by our foot and ankle specialist Dr. Alex Lebrija, who serves as our medical director and will work closely with each athletic trainer in each school corporation to ensure thehealthcare needs of their student athletes are met effectively and comprehensively.”
“As a former college athlete myself, I have always enjoyed working with student athletes as a foot and ankle specialist,” says Dr. Alex Lebrija. “My career in college athletics is what inspired me to pursue medicine, and specifically podiatry to work with feet and ankles. While playing football, I received a pair of orthotics that helped me stay out of pain during the season. Many different types of injuries can happen during a sports season, but student athletes are commonly affected by foot and ankle issues because of a practice or game. Iam board-certified in foot surgery and in Rearfoot Reconstruction and Ankle Surgery by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, and I want to put my expertise to use for the benefit of our local student athletes. I have previous experience directing sports medicine programs in Minnesota and Oklahoma as well. I look forward to combining my love of athletics and medicine with this new program to build relationships with students and families, providing them with exceptional care right here at home.”
In the Logansport Memorial Sports Medicine program, concussion screenings will also be offered regularly to each partner school so that athletes are
kept safe from one of the most serious injuries to be sustained during a sporting event.
The Logansport Memorial Sports Medicine team uses ImPACT® concussion screening and testing tools, which have been proven as an industry standard by the FDA and other regulatory agencies. The ImPACT® concussion screening has two components – one for baseline testing and one for post –
injury testing – that are used together to determine if a student athlete can safely return to play or activity. Each athletic trainer in the Sports Medicine program is certified to use the ImPACT® tool and physicians in the Logansport Memorial Physician Network are able to interpret results quickly.