West Central Minnesota boasts a lot of unique things and activities, but what some may not be aware of is that the area is home to some world class athletes young and older.
With this in mind, Tri-County Health Care (Astera Health) will now offer a free walk-in sports injury clinic in Wadena. The new service was added to better serve athletes around the region.
Medley Shamp, TCHC chief ambulatory officer, said prompted the creation of the free sports injury clinic as a way to promote healthy habits.
“Our area is home to some of the best athletes around. Sports unify a community in a very special way, not to mention that athletics usually ingrain healthy habits in our youngsters from an early age. TCHC wants to help them in any way that we can so we came up with the injury clinic. We had sports medicine already in place but the injury clinic is taking things to the next level. This is our way of creating a consistent and easy means of improving the safety and performance of our athletes all over the region,” said Shamp.
Shamp shared that by using the injury clinic, athletes can schedule same-day appointments with orthopedic providers when needed.
According to the organization's website, sports medicine helps athletes prevent and treat injuries related to sports. The sports medicine care team consists of Stephen Davis, MD; Sarah Maninga, certified athletic trainer, Brock Spandl, DC; and orthopedic providers, who will further evaluate injuries as needed.
Athletic trainers are healthcare professionals who collaborate with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.
The new service began on Jan. 2 and is available Monday-Friday, from 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Patients are advised to enter through the main entrance of the Wadena Clinic and check in at the front desk to be seen in the new clinic.
In addition to the injury evaluation, the sports medicine staff offer suggestions, including rehab exercises, return-to-play recommendations and injury prevention tips.
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