Memorial Health System

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Memorial Health System

Memorial Hospital has been a cornerstone of the Colorado Springs community for more than a century. A leading health care provider. One of the city's largest employers. An unparalleled community partner. Owned by the city, we provide outstanding health care to all, yet receive no financial support or tax subsidies from the city.
From humble beginnings in 1904 as a small hospital, today we stand as a world-class health care system. To reflect this growth, Memorial Hospital changed its name to Memorial Health System.
From the early years when we were a leader in tuberculosis treatment to more recently when we established southern Colorado's only children's hospital, Memorial continues to grow to meet the ever changing health care needs of our community. We have more than a dozen facilities throughout El Paso and Teller Counties; 477 beds. And, we provide outreach efforts to rural communities throughout our state and beyond. In 2007, we opened the first new hospital in Colorado Springs in two decades: Memorial Hospital North. Our campus on Boulder Street is now known as Memorial Hospital Central.
Memorial's strength can be credited to the fact that we continually strive to be a health care provider of choice. We offer the latest in technology and sophisticated diagnostic and treatment options. We do our best to deliver services in up-to-date and sparkling facilities. We hire and retain the most highly skilled and compassionate staff. All to meet the needs of our patients and community, thereby helping us to balance the needs and care for those less fortunate.
We provide comprehensive health care to all from our premature babies to our seniors. Our services cover the continuum of care from prevention to diagnosis to treatment and recovery. We're there for you, as your partner in care, every step of the way.
With a commitment to excellence in everything we do, we look forward to continuing to meet the ever-growing health care needs of our community, as we create a new legacy.

Schools Using ImPACT

2

ImPACT History:

All three members of our ImPACT team have attended and been trained at the ImPACT Workshops. We have been using the program since 2005. We have contracts with local high schools and plan on adding more for the 2007/2008 seasons. Additionally we see individual walk-in athletes in our sports concussion clinic for baseline and post-concussion management.

Local Articles:

Widefield senior back home for the holiday
Player recovering from football injury

By JOE PAISLEY THE GAZETTE

Matt Fliney's family got their Christmas gift early.

The Widefield High School senior is home for the holiday, leaving Memorial Hospital on Saturday morning after weeks of rehabilitation from a head injury suffered last month during a football game.

The homecoming marks the end of an ordeal for his family, his mother Lori Coughlin, her husband William Coughlin, brother Greg Fliney, sister Corina Coughlin and his father Thomas Fliney.

Initially, things looked bad, but Matt has made tremendous progress in recent weeks.

'We're above expectations,' said Dr. Mike Nunley, Matt's clinical neuropsychologist at the hospital. 'Four weeks ago when we met, it was a different story. Matt was still unconscious. It's unbelievable that we've come this far. They did get their miracle.

Matt's odds of enjoying this Christmas with his family were daunting considering the head injury he suffered. Second Impact Syndrome kills 50 percent of the high school-age athletes who sustain it, Nunley said.

The syndrome happens when an athlete suffers a mild concussion but it goes undiagnosed and untreated. In about seven to 10 days, the athlete suffers another blow to the head, which can cause swelling and bleeding on the brain.

That happened Nov. 2 and forced Matt to leave a football game against Coronado.

He walked off on his own power, but it soon became clear the 6-foot-3 senior lineman was in serious trouble. He vomited and passed out. During a 2½ hour emergency operation, doctors removed a clot from his brain. He made steady progress, waking three days later.

The two-year-long healing process has only begun, delaying Fliney's college plans to study geology.

'In a 26-mile marathon, he's on mile 5,' Nunley said.

Those who don't die from Second Impact Syndrome suffer some brain damage. How much Matt suffered remains to be determined.

'There wasn't a part of his brain that wasn't affected,' Nunley said.

Fliney was anxious to get out of the hospital.

'I don't like being here,' Fliney said last week at the hospital. 'I haven't been thinking about Christmas, just getting out of here.'

Now he's free to wonder about what he might get. A computer would be nice, he said.

Being forced to live a more everyday life will help Matt learn to do the everyday things most people do without thinking.

Right now, the 4A regional discus champion struggles to walk and run correctly. He gets around fairly well on his own. He undergoes a combination of mental and physical activities during his 3½-hour rehabilitation sessions.

'In two to three months the physical will improve,' Nunley said. 'Fixing cognition is hard to do.'

Matt can get confused when trying to remember things. He doesn't recall the game.

'I'll watch it (the game video) sometime,' he said.

A review of the tape gives no hint when the concussions occurred, Nunley said.

His friends and teammates were pleased to see him out and about recently. Matt was a surprise visitor at the football team's awards banquet.

'He walked in with a big smile on his face and got a standing ovation,' Lori said. 'He was supposed to be in a wheelchair and wheeled in, but he walked in and had on one of his jerseys (No. 62).'

The banquet took its toll on Matt. Seeing everyone was too much for his healing brain. The sensory overload of a crowded room was tiring after only 40 minutes, said Nunley.

Matt was awarded the team's outstanding defensive player award along with top interior lineman. The team retired his number, framing one of his jerseys in a shadow box.

A nice early Christmas gift for a family that already got the biggest one they could hope for; Matt is home for Christmas.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0260 or joseph.paisley@gazette.com




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Software measures severity of head injury

By CARY LEIDER VOGRIN THE GAZETTE

A computerized test now available in Colorado Springs can help assess whether a ding is really just a ding or whether an athlete has suffered a concussion that deserves off-the-field recovery time.

The software, a 'brain physical' that measures an athlete's attention, concentration, motor speed and memory, helps physicians and trainers evaluate when it's safe for a player to go back in the game. Athletes take a baseline test, and the data are used for comparison should a head injury occur.

Athletes who return to competition before their brains have healed are at higher risk for recurring concussions or a potentially fatalswelling of the brain called second-impact syndrome.

But because concussions are difficult to detect, MRIs don't show them, they are sometimes brushed off as insignificant, said Michael Nunley, a neuropsychologist with Memorial Hospital's rehabilitation program.

Symptoms of a concussion, when the brain is shaken inside the skull, can include confusion, forgetting what happened just before the injury, headache, loss of bal- ance, and a sense of fogginess.

'They talk about that feeling when you wake up in the morning, you know who you are but haven't had your coffee,' Nunley said. 'You can have blurred vision or double vision. Sensitivity to light is pretty common.'

Nunley and others who are launching the test here say another goal is to educate young athletes, coaches and parents that concussions are serious. They hope to market it to high school athletic directors and to club sports and will make it available to competitors ages 11 and up; it's already used at multiple high schools in metro Denver.

The test, developed at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Sports Medicine, is used at hundreds of schools across the country and by several pro sports teams.

Nunley said it's common for kids to head back into a game if they're symptom-free for 20 minutes.

'That should never happen,' he said. Athletes should be pulled from that day's game and not allowed back in until they are checked by a doctor.

He said 63,000 high school athletes across the country suffer a concussion each year; most are football players, but Nunley said the injury also is common among hockey, lacrosse and soccer players.

Nunley wants to dispel the typical line of thinking that if a person is not knocked out, then he or she is fine.

'Loss of consciousness used to be the hallmark to say someone's had a concussion. But only 9 percent of athletes who have a concussion actually had a loss of consciousness,' he said. 'That's a real old myth that needs to go away.'

Guy Ristoff, an athletic trainer who works at Memorial rehab, said he often encounters parents who are more concerned about their kids' playing time than the possibility of a concussion.

'The reaction I get from people is they don't think concussions are a big deal,' he said.

Parents make comments like, 'He's fine. He just got his bell rung,' or 'He's just seeing stars a little bit, but he'll be fine in 10 minutes.'

'It's that kind of mentality that gets parents in trouble,' he said. 'You really are risking your kid's life.'