Chavan talks injuries with coaches
Last Monday night, football coaches from surrounding counties were invited to Wintzell’s for a dinner hosted by LV Stabler Hospital and Stabler Clinic. At the dinner, coaches heard from several members of Dr. Raj Chavan’s team regarding injuries and concerns during football season.
For the past several years, Dr. Chavan and his team have provided a Saturday morning clinic for football players who are injured during a game on Friday night. “It is important to see athletes the morning after the injury,” said Dr. Chavan. “I fear something bad may happen for those who wait until Monday to see a primary care physician. We have to come up with a a plan to treat the injury, the sooner the better. When I see the athlete on a Saturday morning we can go ahead and have x-rays done and schedule other scans if needed.”
Dr. Chavan, who is an orthopedic specialist, has worked with professional athletes and teams in the past. He is very responsive to high school coaches when he receives a message regarding an injury. He has worked on growing his team to provide more care for the athletes. Jason Peavy who works with Rehab Associates has been working with him for several years and he recently added Nurse Practitioner Pam Ingram and athletic trainer Zebbie Mitchell to his team. They are working to try to have someone on sidelines of football games, especially those in the county.
Coaches were given an insight of what to do if there is not any emergency personnel around. “They are trained to be coaches,” said Dr. Chavan, “not emergency personnel. So I want to communicate with the coaches and help them, as well as us, know what we can do to help them develop and maintain an emergency action plan.”
“I care about student athletes,” said Dr. Chavan. “Sports help students develop self-confidence, team work and grow into better people.”
Donny Rentfro, CEO of LV Stabler Hospital, supports Dr. Chavan’s mission. “His vision is to provide care to student athletes,” said Rentfro. “Dr. Chavan is always looking for opportunities to find staff with his same vision. We want to make sure that whatever need they have, we are going to get it taken care of.”
