UI Sports Medicine serves as care provider for Iowa Heartlanders hockey team
UI Sports Medicine is the official medical provider of the Iowa Heartlanders, the professional minor league hockey team based in Coralville, Iowa.
Terese Whipple, MD, serves as the Heartlanders’ team lead physician, and Jason Geisler, LAT, ATC, is the team’s athletic trainer. Whipple and Geisler are care providers with UI Sports Medicine, part of the UI Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation.
“Hockey is a fast-paced, high-contact sport,” Whipple says. “The athletes are passionate and skilled competitors. Injuries happen, but with experience caring for all types of athletes, we're able to get them back on the ice and back to playing the game they love.”
Sports medicine services for the Heartlanders team includes prevention, treatment, and follow-up care for musculoskeletal injuries such as muscle strains and tears, bone fractures, joint dislocations, contusions, and concussions. UI Sports Medicine staff will be on-site for the team’s home games; for certain non-urgent injuries, players may be seen at the UI Sports Medicine clinic in Iowa City.
“Hockey requires a medical team that can respond in an intense environment,” says Matt Getz, president of the Iowa Heartlanders. “They need to educate our athletes on how to prevent injuries, respond in an instant, and manage care around-the-clock to get athletes back into position to play as quickly as possible. We’ve seen incredible care from the UI Sports Medicine team this season. It’s an understatement to say that we’ve been pleased with our relationship.”
Working with professional and elite athletes is not new to UI Sports Medicine, as several of its staff members work closely with Team USA—the organization representing American athletes at international sports events such as the Olympics. UI Sports Medicine specialists have worked with Team USA skiers, wrestlers, and other world-class athletes in addition to providing care for all UI athletics and club teams.
The Heartlanders, a minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League, began their season in October and will play through mid-April 2024.
