NU athletes to benefit from UBMDOSM’s comprehensive sports medicine expertise
UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center (NFMMC) have signed agreements with Niagara University to provide sports medicine services to Niagara University’s Division I and club sports programs beginning with the 2020-2021 school year.
The agreements call for UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine to serve as team physicians for the Purple Eagles and Niagara Falls Memorial to provide timely access to diagnostic imaging and other needed care services to Niagara’s student athletes. Memorial’s certified athletic trainers will provide supplemental athletic training services to the university, working with Niagara’s training staff to promote injury prevention, injury recognition and rehabilitation services on and off the field and ice.
Athletes also will have access to same day walk-in care at UB OrthoCare, a center for urgent orthopedic injuries located at the Summit Healthplex on Williams Road in Niagara Falls.
UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine serves as team physicians for numerous professional, collegiate and high school athletic programs across Western New York including the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bandits, UB Bulls, Buffalo State Bengals, ECC Kats, NCCC Thunderwolves and Rochester Americans.
“Providing elite-level sports medicine care to our more than 330 scholar-athletes is a priority,” said Simon Gray, Director of Athletics at Niagara University. “Considering the current medical environment and the increased demands on an annual basis, this partnership with UBMD and Niagara Falls Memorial will provide Niagara Athletics with comprehensive coverage.”
“We’re very excited about the opportunity to deliver compassionate care to all NU student-athletes. Both Niagara University and UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine will benefit from a long-term partnership,” said Dr. William Wind, a sports medicine and knee and shoulder arthroscopy specialist who will serve as lead team physician for Niagara University. Wind is head team medical physician for University at Buffalo Athletics and the Rochester Americans, head orthopedist for Niagara Community College Athletics and the assistant team physician for the Buffalo Sabres.
Niagara Falls Memorial has provided athletic training services for more than a decade to sports programs at Niagara County Community College and the Niagara Falls, Niagara-Wheatfield, Grand Island, North Tonawanda, Tonawanda, Kenmore East, Kenmore West, Charter School of Applied Technology (CSAT) and Lewiston-Porter school systems.
“UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine has worked closely with us at all of those schools,“ said Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center President & CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo. “It has been a very productive partnership and they have unfailingly provided the highest quality care.”
In addition to Dr. Wind, three other board-certified UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine physicians, all of whom will be working with Niagara Falls Memorial, will serve as team physicians for Niagara University.
Dr. Michael Freitas, a primary care sports medicine specialist, is also the team medical physician for University at Buffalo Athletics, Daemen College Athletics and the Rochester Americans. He is an assistant team physician for the Buffalo Sabres and a medical consultant for the Buffalo Bills.
Dr. Benjamin Levy is a new physician with UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and will start seeing patients during the first week of September. He specializes in sports medicine and joins UBMDOSM after completing his fellowship at the University of Connecticut. He has experience as team physician fellow for the University of Connecticut and Quinnipiac University.
Dr. Heidi Suffoletto is a primary care sports medicine specialist and also works out of the UB Concussion Management Clinic. Suffoletto is the NFL visiting team liaison, team physician for Erie Community College Athletics and team physician for the Buffalo Sabres. She also practices emergency medicine.
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About UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine
UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, a member of UBMD Physicians’ Group, is an academic orthopaedic group that offers complete care of all orthopaedic and musculoskeletal problems for children, adults and seniors. The group is affiliated with Kaleida Health, Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), Catholic Health System, and Niagara Falls Memorial, and staffs Buffalo General Hospital, ECMC and Oishei Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. In addition, they are the team doctors for the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bandits, UB Bulls, Buffalo State Bengals, ECC Kats, NCCC Thunderwolves, and Rochester Americans. To learn more, visit ubortho.com.
About Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center
Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center is a full-service, 171-bed regional medical center with extensive inpatient and outpatient services including The Heart Center of Niagara, Niagara Wellness Connection Center, Wound Center of Niagara, the OB/GYN Center and UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine.
The first hospital in Niagara to be designated a stroke center by the New York State Department of Health, Memorial also provides a wide range of outpatient services at the Golisano Center for Community Health, Summit Healthplex, Tuscarora Health Center, and primary care offices in Niagara Falls, Wheatfield, Town of Niagara, North Tonawanda and Grand Island). Both the hospital and its Schoellkopf Health Center, a 120-bed skilled nursing facility that specializes in short-term rehabilitation and elder care, feature 100-percent private room accommodations. To learn more, visit www.nfmmc.org.