For Immediate Release:
Housatonic Valley Health District is happy to announce a new offering, sports physicals for school-aged children, beginning September 10, 2022.
Heidi Bettcher, Community Health Nursing Supervisor noted, “Sports physicals are important to ensure that kids are being safe while having fun playing a sport. Most organizations require a sports physical because this allows a medical professional to review the patient’s medical history and catch any risk factors that may impact their health by playing a specific sport.”
Director of Health, Lisa Morrissey, commented “While sport physicals cannot take the place of an annual physical with a pediatrician, they are an important tool that many families rely on while awaiting an appointment with their child’s provider. We heard from many parents that obtaining clearance for their child to play sports was another source of stress if you couldn’t get in to see the pediatrician right away.”
During a sports physical visit with Housatonic Valley Health District, a licensed medical provider will review the patient’s medical history and perform a physical exam. The physical exam will include collecting information like height and weight, vital readings, medical history questionnaire and family medical history inquiries. Appointments are required and can be scheduled by visiting: www.hvhd.us/community-health/sports-physicals.
To learn more about how to prepare for a sports physical with Housatonic Valley Health District, visit https://hvhdct.gov/community-health%ef%bf%bc/sports-physicals/.
The Housatonic Valley Health District serves New Milford, Oxford, Southbury, Washington, and Woodbury. The Housatonic Valley Health District’s mission is to create better health outcomes and promote the highest attainable standard of health. It accomplishes this through three principles: prevention, education, and outreach. HVHD prevents disease, injury, and disability for its communities through regular inspections of public and private businesses and homes to ensure conditions exist where people can be healthy. HVHD uses education to inform the public and health practitioners on public health best practices, policy information, and the impacts and methods of prevention for the spread of communicable diseases. HVHD conducts outreach to engage their communities that experience obstacles in accessing the public health services they need, deliver vaccines to the community, and advocate for needed and beneficial health policies.
