MID STATE Ortho: Dedicated to Athletes and Athletic Healthcare

It began with organized Friday night football game coverage in the fall of 1988. The physicians at Alexandria Orthopaedic Clinic (later to become MID STATE Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Center) covered local games along with a few local physical therapists. In the fall of 2008 six (6) physicians, fifteen (15) athletic trainers, and several physical therapists cover over twenty (20) high school and colleges games every week.

In May of 1989, five (5) Alexandria high schools came together for the first multi-school physical day. In May of 2008 fourteen (14) schools participated in the annual high school physical day with over 1300 athletes receiving physicals.

Next was an innovative Saturday morning injury clinic for athletes injured in Friday night games, which was most appreciated by coaches and parents of players. This fall will be the 19th consecutive year for the injury clinic.

Louisiana Sports Medicine Center (LSMC) was created by Drs. Stan Foster and Chris Rich to provide an organized and modern approach to athletic healthcare. The Louisiana College Wildcats came on board in 1989 and the Northwestern State University Demons in 1990. They are still committed today.

Sports medicine, a comprehensive concept involving physicians, athletic trainers and physical therapists, was rare in the United States outside of a few major population centers. In 1991 the MID STATE "office" was extended to the playing fields of Rapides Parish by hiring certified athletic trainers to be on hand for practices and games - a first for the Alexandria area.

"The athletic trainers perform many vital functions in a sports medicine program", Dr. Rich explained. "They are most visible when they treat and evaluate injuries during a games, but they are also vital at practices and in an injury rehabilitation oversight for return to sport".

In 1995, CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital partnered with LSMC after recognizing the strong community outreach of the program, and the number of athletic trainers and services were expanded to what is now CHRISTUS Louisiana Sports Medicine Center.

High school athletes at more than fifty (50) schools in eleven (11) Central Louisiana parishes, Northwestern State University, Louisiana College and minor league sports such as the Alexandria Aces are served by the sports medicine program.