Official Health Care Provider for the Cincinnati Reds
Mr. Redlegs and Rosie Red are Living Better!
Rosie and Mr. Redlegs are living better after a trip around TriHealth, the official health care provider for the Cincinnati Reds.
Come see TriHealth on the 3rd base concourse Opening Day and Opening Night for your chance to win prizes, including TriHealth gear. We'll also have a photo station to get your photo taken with Mr. Redlegs and Rosie!
When you need medical attention for yourself or your family, you look for the highest-quality care from a concerned, 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 has become so successful that it now serves as a model for teams throughout Major League Baseball.
Declan Mullin, vice president of ballpark operations for the Reds, explains that the relationship between the Reds and TriHealth dates back to the days of Riverfront/Cinergy Field.
“TriHealth was providing paramedics, EMTs and doctors on game day, and I quickly found out it was much easier for us to turn it all over to TriHealth,” Mullin says.
Part of the TriHealth medical team that takes care of fans at Great American Ball Park. Left to right: Daryl Asbrock, R.N., TriHealth Emergency Unit; Jarrad Lifshitz, M.D., TriHealth ER physician; Mike Dressell, EMT-P, Indian Hills ranger/paramedic; Richard Bell, EMT-P, Green Township, paramedic/fire marshal; and Mike Boeckermann, EMT-P, Green Township, paramedic.
Keeping You Safe at the Games
The TriHealth team is ready to care for any medical problem that might crop up among the 42,000 fans Great American Ball Park can accommodate. It attends to people with heat-related conditions, foul-ball injuries and peanut allergies, as well as less-common problems such as heart attacks and fi reworks 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 staffers on patrol in the stadium, on alert for people who may need help.
- Runners with wheelchairs to help people get to the first-aid room.
- 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 even in the off-season. They’re continually looking at how we can improve services,” Mullin says. “We 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 Queen City Physicians. 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 13 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. Teddi Mangas-Coon, director of human resources for the Reds, spearheads the RedsFit workplace wellness program. In 2009, Mangas-Coon partnered with TriHealth to launch the program, which includes an annual wellness fair with blood screenings and functional assessments for the approximately 200 year-round team members in Cincinnati.
“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,” Mangas-Coon says.
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.
The fairs have been so successful that, after a presentation by Mangas-Coon, several other Major League Baseball teams began similar programs for their team members.
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 topics.
“We try to fill Monday through Friday with an exercise program for a variety of people,” Mangas-Coon says. “We’ve seen people who have never exercised before. We’re seeing an improvement across a wide range of ages.”
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. “Whether they have a sore throat or cold, rash or cough, or want a blood pressure check, the doctor will take care of it,” Mangas-Coon says.
All Reds team members can take part in RedsFit, and Mangas-Coon estimates that 98 percent of team members do so.
“TriHealth is a fabulous partner,” she says. “We wouldn’t have a RedsFit program without TriHealth.”