USA Health schedules Saturday walk-in clinic for student athletes

By Carol McPhail
[email protected]

To address the injuries of student-athletes promptly, USA Health Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine is bringing back its Saturday walk-in clinic for the fall starting Aug. 22.

Each Saturday morning, sports medicine and orthopaedic surgery providers will care for middle school, high school and college athletes at the Strada Patient Care Center in Mobile. The clinic will be open 9 to 10:45 a.m., and no appointment is necessary.

"When a student-athlete is injured, we don’t want them to have to wait until the following week to be seen by a healthcare provider," said Brad Clay, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at USA Health and assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine. "The Saturday clinic enables athletes who are injured on Thursday or Friday nights to be seen so they can return to their sport quickly and safely."

Clay and USA Health sports medicine physicians Peter Rippey, M.D.,Bishop Carmichael, D.O., and Price Sessums, M.D., along with physician assistant Caitlin Clark, PA-C, ATC, will lead the care for patients at the clinic. Each fall, more than 100 student-athletes are treated on Saturdays for injuries ranging from fractures and tears to sprains and strains.

Entrance for the Saturday clinic is located on the first floor of the Strada Patient Care Center at 1601 Center St. in Mobile, and check-in is on the second floor. For more information, contact USA Health Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine at 251-665-8200.