Kilkenny GAA and Carlow GAA Both Announce UPMC Sports Medicine as Official Healthcare Partner

22 February 2022 — Kilkenny GAA and Carlow GAA have announced that UPMC Sports Medicine is to become their Official Healthcare Partner. The partnership agreement means that UPMC, which offers trusted, high-quality health services in facilities across Ireland, will work with both counties to offer inter-county players top-class care and attention in sports injury and preventative care.

“UPMC is recognised globally as a leader in sports medicine, rehabilitation and orthopaedics and is delighted to be working to find innovative ways to support the well-being of both Kilkenny and Carlow players on and off the field,” said John Windle, general manager of UPMC Sports Medicine in Ireland.

Windle continued “UPMC is proud to become the official healthcare partner of both Kilkenny GAA and Carlow GAA. UPMC has a long tradition of caring for athletes at all levels, including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins in the United States and in Ireland as the official healthcare partner of the GAA and GPA.”

The partnerships will be a mechanism for players across all codes to access sports medicine services and will allow Kilkenny and Carlow to assist their medical teams in providing healthcare to players that is in line with international best practice in a range of areas.

The UPMC Sports Medicine Clinic in Waterford is the health system’s first international location dedicated to sports medicine and these partnerships will offer a wide variety of equipment and services to both counties, including:

• AlterG® Antigravity Treadmill™, which allows for pain-free lower extremity rehabilitation by reducing gravitational forces in a fall-safe environment;
• Biodex technology, which guides return to play with validated, quantitative outcomes data obtained through computerised measurement of muscle function and output;
• Blood flow restriction rehabilitation, which uses a specialised tourniquet system to reduce blood flow to an extremity with the goal of increasing strength using low weight loads to mimic training at high loads;
• and Winback and shockwave therapy, two non-invasive, evidence-based treatments that accelerate healing from sports-related injuries.