TriHealth Partnership with Reds Keeps Fans and Players Healthy

When you need medical attention for yourself or your family, you look for the highest-quality care from a concerned and experienced medical staff. When the Cincinnati Reds needed a health care partner for their fans and team members, they did the same, and turned to TriHealth. Over the years, the partnership is so successful that it now serves as a model for teams throughout Major League Baseball.

The relationship between the Reds and TriHealth dates back to the days of Riverfront/Cinergy Field more than 15 years ago.

TriHealth was providing paramedics, EMTs, and doctors on game day and the Reds found out it was much easier to turn it all over to TriHealth.

• Related: Young Female Athletes are Able to Keep Competing after Serious Injuries, Thanks to the Right Surgery and Rehab.

Keeping You Safe at the Games

The TriHealth team is ready to care for any medical problem that might affect any of the 42,000 fans Great American Ball Park can accommodate. The medical team attends to people with heat-related conditions, foul-ball injuries, and peanut allergies. They are also prepared to treat less-common problems like heart attacks and fireworks injuries.

“Our staff includes critical care paramedics and ER nurses, and we also have a residency-trained emergency medicine doctor and an ambulance at every game,” says Doug Harris, TriHealth’s event program manager, Sports Care and Event Medicine, and liaison to the Reds. “It’s top-of-the-line care.”

The medical services provided to fans include:

• Ushers with pagers who can alert medics quickly if there’s a problem.
• Mobile emergency medical technician units throughout the ballpark.
• Medical staff on patrol throughout the stadium, on alert for people who may need help.
• Runners with wheelchairs to help people get to the first-aid room quickly.
• Cool rooms, free sunscreen and free water during heat emergencies, and medical runners to help people get to the cool rooms.
• A fast-track unit that coordinates with TriHealth hospitals for people who need to be transferred.

TriHealth stays involved during the off-season, continually looking at how we can improve services. The Reds have two teams: the team on the field and the team off the field. TriHealth is part of that team off the field.

TriHealth Doctor Cares for Players, Too

When Reds players report to spring training, one of the first people they see is Stephen Cleves MD, primary care physician to the Reds and at TriHealth Physician Partners. Before players step onto the field, they receive a physical by Dr. Cleves, a frequent visitor to spring training, as well as to Great American Ball Park during homestands.

“I have been taking care of Reds players and front office personnel for almost 19 years,” Dr. Cleves says. “And if a player or coach isn’t feeling well at game time, I’ll check in on them before they take the field.”

On game days, or any day, Dr. Cleves is always available to help Reds players with their medical needs.

A Home Run for Employees

TriHealth also helps keep Reds team members healthy with the RedsFit workplace wellness program. The program was launched in 2009 and includes an annual wellness fair with blood screenings and functional assessments for the approximately 200 year-round Reds team members in Cincinnati. The program is so successful that it’s been copied by other MLB teams.

During blood work screenings, TriHealth has caught people who needed immediate medical attention. Had they not gotten to a specialist right away, they might not be here today. Every health fair has saved one or two lives.

With TriHealth’s assistance, the health fairs have featured motivational speakers, including Rulon Gardner, a former Olympic wrestler who was also a contestant on The Biggest Loser.

In addition to the health fairs, RedsFit offers free or inexpensive exercise classes such as yoga, tai chi, resistance training and circuit training as well as lunch-and-learn sessions on a variety of health and wellness topics.

The program also offers a clubhouse call twice a month, where a TriHealth doctor comes to see team members for whatever medical need they might have. Around 98 percent of team members take part in RedsFit, some of whom have never joined an exercise program before.