Internationally Renowned Athletes Fueled by 'Playground to Podium' Care from Texas Children's Hospital

^{U.S. Olympic ice dancer and Texas Children’s Hospital patient Jean-Luc Baker, 28, competes with his partner, Kaitlin Hawayek. Texas Children’s Hospital is a Team USA National Medical Center and Official Pediatric Medicine Provider of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), offering expertise to athletes in coordination with USOPC medical practitioners.}

As a Team USA National Medical Center, Texas Children’s Extends Head-to-Toe Care for Elite Athlete

HOUSTON (Feb. 15, 2022) — As a Team USA National Medical Center and the Official Pediatric Medicine Provider of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Texas Children’s Sports Medicine and Orthopedics surgeons, physical therapists, dietitians, and psychologists stand ready to extend the care they’ve long provided to the world’s best athletes throughout their journeys from the ‘playground to the podium.’

“At Texas Children’s Hospital, we are honored to provide comprehensive care across the entire medical spectrum for elite athletes through our relationship with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC),” said Dr. Jeffrey Shilt, Vice Chair of Surgery-Community at Texas Children’s Hospital, Pediatric Sports Medicine Liaison to the USOPC, and Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for USA Cycling.

Pediatric providers often bring a unique perspective to caring for congenital conditions even into adulthood because of their extensive experience treating them throughout a patient’s childhood and teenage years. This is one of the reasons Texas Children’s Hospital developed its renowned Adult Congenital Heart Program — a specialist from which also supports the USOPC. Similarly, Texas Children’s Transition Medicine team focuses on collaboration between a patient’s pediatrician and future adult provider, with particular attention on patients with complex medical needs.

A direct beneficiary of Texas Children’s Sports Medicine and Orthopedics care, U.S. Olympic ice dancer and 2018 Four Continents Champion, Jean-Luc Baker, 28, is grateful for the whole-body care he received from the nation’s largest children’s hospital. He traveled to Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands from his training center in Montreal, Canada for a full-body assessment in the wake of two significant concussions that caused lasting sensory deprivations. “For three to four days, I underwent comprehensive testing at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, working with at least a dozen highly specialized physicians, dietitians, and other providers to understand the source of my sensory issues and develop a tailored treatment plan to keep me at the top of my game,” said Baker. “It was one of the most intense experiences of my life, but in the best way possible!”

He notes, “Texas Children’s Hospital really helped me have a significantly better understanding of my body and how to fine-tune it to be the best athlete I possibly can be.”

In addition to Baker, Texas Children’s Hospital wishes a number of other athletes the best in their performances.

Many other athletes have benefited from the Motion Analysis and Human Performance Laboratory at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. Whether to recover from an injury or to ensure their peak performance, these athletes enjoy the support of a team of physicians, therapists, biomechanists and exercise physiologists to analyze their movement patterns, muscle activation and force generation en route to better health.

In addition to providing world-class pediatric care, the Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women provides comprehensive care for women, with specialized providers to support the growing number of female athletes, ranging from amateur to world class. Under the leadership of Drs. Chimsom T. Oleka and Sara Arian, a team of women’s health experts provide comprehensive reproductive and medical care to female athletes of all ages, throughout all stages of their reproductive years — meeting the medical, psychological, and athletic needs of females from birth and beyond.

For more information about the nationally renowned Sports Medicine & Orthopedics program at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, please visit https://www.texaschildrens.org/departments/sports-medicine. To learn more about how Texas Children’s helps power and support the dreams of athletes, please visit www.caringforthedream.org.