Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s annual Heart of a Champion events will offer free sports-specific health screenings and educational programs to student-athletes at area high schools that participate in the health system’s Athletic Training Outreach Program.
The screenings will be held at locations in Winston-Salem, High Point and North Wilkesboro and will include a review of the student-athlete’s medical history, general sports screening, orthopaedic screening and vision exam. Student-athletes will also receive heart screenings for sudden cardiac death, which are not offered at routine athletic physicals.
“Last year we had nearly 600 student-athletes participate in the free screening events and we were able to make sure they were healthy and we educated them on injury prevention,” said Christopher Ina, director of athletic training services at Atrium Health Wake Forst Baptist. “These are such important events for the community. Unfortunately, many children still do not receive an annual physical from their pediatrician. These events provide an opportunity to identify potentially treatable conditions to ensure safe participation in sports, but these events are not intended to replace the need for an annual physical.
The events will be held at three locations on these dates:
Saturday, May 18
Orthopaedics – West Park
1917 West Park Dr.
North Wilkesboro
9 a.m. to noon
Saturday, June 1
Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine – High Point
611 Lindsey St.
High Point
8 a.m. to noon
Saturday, June 8
Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine – Medical Plaza Miller
131 Miller St.
Winston-Salem
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
To attend, student-athletes must complete the pre-participation physical evaluation paperwork prior to the event. All forms must be signed by a parent or guardian in order to participate. Only student-athletes who attend one of the 30 participating high schools listed at https://www.wakehealth.edu/specialty/s/sports-medicine/heart-of-a-champion may attend the events. Pre-registration is available online.
“We are looking forward to another successful event this year,” Ina said. “We are happy to partner with student-athletes year-round, as we have athletic trainers at more than 30 high schools in the Triad region. Our goal is to keep everyone safe and injury free, but in the event, something does occur, the athletic trainers are there to support student-athletes in their recovery process to help them get back in the game as quickly and safely as possible.”
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist partners with more than 30 public, private and charter schools across the Triad and cares for more than 15,000 student-athletes.
Media contacts:
Jenna Kurzyna, jkurzyna@wakehealth.edu; Joe McCloskey, jmcclosk@wakehealth.edu