The elite players of the WNBA Connecticut Sun know that winning is a team effort. So, too, do the medical professionals from Yale New Haven Health and Lawrence + Memorial Hospital who provide an array of healthcare services to keep the players in winning form.
It starts with team physician Michael Medvecky, MD, who is responsible for the musculoskeletal care of the team as well as coordinates their overall medical and mental health care, utilizing the resources of Yale New Haven Health system. As an associate professor for Yale Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation and an orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon, Medvecky works with a multidisciplinary team. That team includes Chief Medical Officer Oliver Mayorga, MD, and Craig Mittleman, MD, regional director of emergency services at L+M and Westerly hospitals. Samantha Smith, MD, a primary care sports medicine physician, also helps coordinate and oversees the medical aspects of the players care and is part of the physician team that attends each home game.
Other providers are also in close proximity. Katie Reeve, MD, a primary care physician is the director of on-site services at Yale New Haven’s newest urgent care facility at the Uncasville Medical Center at Mohegan Sun - literally across the parking lot from the Sun’s home court at Mohegan Sun. The medical center provides players with access to dermatologists, gynecologists, endocrinologists and urgent care services such as x-rays.
That’s the advantage of Yale New Haven Health providing health care services to the Connecticut Sun. We can tap into every discipline of medicine and have the medical professionals from L+M and Westerly hospitals in the Sun’s backyard to provide the greatest of care.
Michael Medvecky, MD
And, Peter Morgan, MD, chair of psychiatry at L+M, is also an integral part of the team. Mental well-being has become an increasingly important component of the health of athletes. Throughout this past year athletes have spoken about the mental stress that being a world-class athlete imparts on their ability to perform their sport.
“We look to take care of health of the whole athlete,” says Medvecky. “That’s the advantage of Yale New Haven Health providing health care services to the Connecticut Sun. We can tap into every discipline of medicine and have the medical professionals from L+M and Westerly hospitals in the Sun’s backyard to provide the greatest of care.”