Photo provided by OSF Healthcare
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan Athletics and OSF Healthcare have announced an official partnership between the two organizations.
The two groups have entered into an exclusive three-year long agreement in which OSF will provide medical care for all IWU student athletes with the possibility to renew after the three years are up.
According to Sports medicine physician at OSF Dr. Karan Rai, who will be heavily involved in the program, this partnership is part of OSF’s recent efforts to become more involved in the local area.
“OSF, over the most recent months, have really strived to strengthen their bond and their presence in the community,” Rai said. “In regards to Wesleyan, we’re trying to establish ourselves as more of a healthcare presence in the young, active population.”
OSF has been a presence in Bloomington-Normal since 1880 and already had physicians who specialize in sports medicine, so student athletes aren’t a new presence in their organization. The partnership, rather, is a move concerned with formalizing and strengthening the relationship between the two groups.
According to OSF, the partnership actually began in August earlier this year but wasn’t formalized until late October.
For Rai, a relative newcomer to OSF, this new community outreach is a great opportunity.
“Over the past two years I’ve been a part of OSF, I’ve really found the fact that they’re making these efforts to be quite impressive,” Rai said. “From the university side, I hope that we can meet the needs of Wesleyan and look forward to seeing what the future holds.”