Injured High School Athletes Recover Faster Through Outreach Program

Provo — With the score tied and only 20 seconds left to play, Payson High School’s Dallin Rowley went for a steal. But when he fell to the court, he didn’t get up. The starting point guard had torn all the lateral ligaments in his ankle, leaving his bones completely unsupported.

Rowley’s injury was not uncommon — nearly 40 percent of all high school basketball injuries are in the foot or ankle. However, his after-injury care was unique and is causing high schools across Utah County to consider a new approach to athletic injuries.

Andrew Weeks, ATC, is an athletic trainer employed by Intermountain Healthcare and connected to Payson High School through a community outreach program. The program allows schools, like Payson, to have a highly qualified athletic trainer on site for all their sporting events at a fraction of the cost.

“The program is allowing schools to get the high-end care that they wouldn’t normally have access to,” said Weeks. “More importantly, it increases athlete safety. Parents really like it, too, because they don’t have to drive their kids all over town to get their rehab.”

Rowley’s mother, Debbie Rowley, knows first-hand the benefit of Intermountain’s outreach program. Before Weeks came to Payson, her oldest daughter was injured playing basketball and needed physical therapy. The total cost for that was about $800. With her son, they didn’t have any rehab bills. Payson’s contract with Intermountain covered that cost, and Rowley was able to do it all at the school with Weeks.  

Another benefit of the outreach program is better coordination. Since athletic trainers employed by Intermountain have access to several sports medicine doctors, they can usually get athletes in quickly if an appointment is necessary.

In Rowley’s case, having Weeks available at the game and in his school helped him get the correct care early. As a result, he recovered in just six weeks from an injury that most doctors thought would end his entire season.

“Without Drew’s help, I definitely don’t think Dallin would have recovered as quickly,” said Debbie. “Because of Drew, Dallin was able to play the last two weeks of his senior year.”