“It's A Bargain” Thrift Shop - Orthopaedic Hospital

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charity care
Sports Clinic Offers Athletes
Outstanding Care
Athletes from high schools in the
downtown area who come to
Orthopædic Hospital with injuries
get the same exceptional attention
that UCLA varsity athletes receive.
That’s because the physician who runs the
OH sports medicine clinic and the physician who
tends to the Bruins in Westwood are one and the
same — Heather Gillespie, MD, MPH.
Dr. Gillespie, who also runs two fracture
clinics at Orthopædic Hospital,
brings a distinctive perspective
to her job, having been a varsity
swimmer and water polo player
at Brown University. Before
joining the UCLA faculty in
September 2007, she earned a
medical degree at Duke University
and completed a family
medicine residency at Thomas
Jefferson University and a
sports medicine fellowship at
Maine Medical Center in Port-
land, Maine.
“Our sports medicine clinic
primarily targets high school
athletes from the downtown area, but we also see
younger adolescents and children with musculoskeletal
complaints related to sports — knee pain,
ankle pain and other injuries,” Dr. Gillespie said.
“In terms of sports, there are many children
and adolescents in the area who are underserved
and really don’t have access to medical care. We
reach out to them — the football and basketball
players who don’t have anyone to take care of
their athletic injuries — as a resource.”
Patients come to the clinic generally after being
referred by an urgent-care center, school athletic
trainer, coach or pediatrician. Dr. Gillespie and
the OH staff offer services from magnetic resonant
imaging (MRI) to physical therapy.
Dr. Gillespie sees injuries ranging from tears
of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) — a common
knee injury — to ankle sprains, shoulder
dislocations and shoulder pain.
“Those three joints are the most common
injuries,” Dr. Gillespie said. “Sometimes it’s an
overuse injury, sometimes an acute traumatic
injury. Fortunately, ACL injuries are the exception,
so most of the athletic injuries we see are
nonsurgical. That’s the key. There’s a lot that can
be treated with bracing and physical therapy.”
Dr. Gillespie and the staff
are contacting more athletic
directors within the Los Angeles
Unified School District to make
them aware of the resources at
Orthopædic Hospital.
“We’re trying to expand
because so many of the children
don’t have access to care,” she
said. “Many places aren’t taking
Medi-Cal anymore. We’re one
of the few facilities that will
accept their insurance. So, for
the underinsured or uninsured,
Heather Gillespie, MD, MPH
we provide vital services. We’re
definitely trying to get the word
out that we’re available.”
In addition to her duties at Orthopædic
Hospital and in the UCLA training room,
Dr. Gillespie conducts a family-practice
clinic and a sports-medicine clinic at
UCLA, which includes patients of all ages
with sports-related injuries and medical issues.
“I work out of at least four offices,” she said.
“It keeps me busy. But it’s a nice balance for me
working with the UCLA varsity athletes and then
having the contrast with the athletes I work with
here. I really love the patient population here.
Everyone is very appreciative of what we do. I
enjoy working with the staff and attending physicians
here as well. It’s a unique and very special
place to work.”