PERSONNEL REPORT
Prisma Health’s Pediatric Concussion Clinic is expanding its services with a location at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital in Sumter.
This new location will allow more patients to receive specific concussion-related medical care in their own communities, reducing travel time and costs for their families. This is an extension of the Pediatric Concussion Clinic, which is part of Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia. The clinic will be led by Dr. Jeffrey Holloway, medical director of the Pediatric Concussion Clinic, and staffed by Dr. Jacob Kay, Ph.D., concussion specialist, and Dr. Alexander Wagner, pediatrician.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.9 million traumatic brain injuries occur each year, but fears exist that many injuries, especially concussions, go unreported or go undetected. The Brain Injury Research Institute estimates that between 1.7 and 3 million sports and recreation-related injuries are concussions.
Brain Injury Awareness Month is celebrated annually in March as a time to raise awareness of injury prevention and better understanding of treatment.
“Normally, most concussions resolve within three to four weeks, but up to one in four children with concussions may develop post-concussion syndrome or have a complex condition. Getting these patients back to school and activities requires that they need to get a proper evaluation and treatment to prevent further problems,” Holloway said. “Our clinic has the ability to evaluate patients and treat concussion-related injuries near their home, helping to prevent more serious problems.”
To better manage all symptoms associated with concussions, the Pediatric Concussion Clinic offers the expertise of pediatricians in sports medicine, the University of South Carolina Concussion and Neuroscience Laboratory, and Prisma Health Rehabilitation services, including physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
In addition to the treatment of concussions, the clinic offers care for complaints and injuries to the musculoskeletal system or sports medicine. Through a partnership, the clinic provides services to students and sports trainers at secondary schools in the area. If an athlete is injured during a school sporting event, the athletic trainer will have access to the clinic to evaluate and treat the injured student for possible head injuries, including concussion.
“By working with local high schools and their athletic trainers, students can receive high-level medical care from professionals who are familiar with the injuries they may face,” Wagner said. “This allows us to treat the patients before they face more serious complications and symptoms.”
The office is located at 100 North Sumter St., Suite 200, in Sumter. To schedule an appointment or evaluation with a provider, call (803) 758-0139.
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