This Sports Clinic Is a Free for All

It’s June, and roller-skating injuries are busting out all over.

“There’s no school, so kids are doing a lot of skating, and we’re seeing a lot of arm injuries,” said Richard Katz, a registered physical therapist who runs the free sports clinic conducted monthly at Granada Hills Community Hospital.

If you’ve fallen off your skates or your skateboard, twisted an ankle or knee playing softball, the clinic is the place to hobble toward for diagnosis and recommendations for treatment.

Since October, 1982, the hospital has provided those services free on the first Saturday of every month, averaging from 25 to 50 patients, Katz says. A recent foot injury clinic, held on the third Saturday of each month, attracted 85 people, he said.

Aside from seeing numerous minor injuries, the orthopedic surgeons who staff the clinic occasionally get someone with a problem that, unknown to him, needs surgery.

“A nagging injury can be serious at times,” said Katz. “If going to a doctor is going to cost $200, a person might just walk around with a knee that locks once in a while, even if it could lead to degeneration in the knee joint.”

Although weekend warriors make up the bulk of the clinic’s visitors, the doctors also administer to aerobics regulars and top-notch athletes.

“Even long-term joggers who run 30 miles a week come in with injuries when they increase their mileage to 40,” Katz said.

The heaviest months, Katz says, occur during high school football, and when schools are not in session. The most common ailments, he says, are tennis elbow and basketball-related ankle injuries.

Katz, who has worked on the sideline at Granada Hills High football games, said he and Dr. George Thomas came up with the idea for a free clinic nearly four years ago when they realized that many football players were reluctant to get medical attention for their injuries.