To read this article on the original publisher's website, Cincinnati Business Courier, please click here.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare is joining Commonwealth Orthopaedic Centers as the official medical provider for more the 250 students who compete for sports teams at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights.

“The health of our student-athletes is a top priority,” Ken Bothof, director of athletics at NKU, said in a statement issued by the university. “St. Elizabeth and Commonwealth Orthopaedics join us in our commitment to enhancing the experience of our student-athletes through world-class care.”

Edgewood-based St. Elizabeth will team with Commonwealth doctors, who already provide medical services for NKU students who compete for Norse teams in Division I athletics. But the agreement also should benefit students who play club or intramural sports at NKU, which has an enrollment of nearly 15,000.

Commonwealth, which is based in Edgewood on the campus of St. Elizabeth’s flagship hospital, has a close working relationship with the health system and with NKU, which competes in the Horizon League of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

St. Elizabeth and Commonwealth will maintain sponsorships with Norse Athletics and the BB&T Arena at NKU as part of the agreement. The arena is the home of the NKU men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The only other financial consideration is that St. Elizabeth will assume the cost of a staff of five athletic trainers who had been employed by NKU plus provide another trainer for D-I sports. In addition, St. E will provide a seventh athletic trainer who will focus on students who play club and intramural sports on NKU’s campus.

The seven-year agreement between St. E and NKU includes options for three one-year renewals. Many contracts between local schools and sports medicine providers involve significant sponsorship money or other financial considerations, but the payoff can be huge for health systems that want to increase brand awareness.

“This partnership with Northern Kentucky University allows St. Elizabeth to bring our collective sports medicine and athletic training expertise to the Division I level,” Bruno Giacomuzzi, chief operating officer of St. E’s Fort Thomas and Florence hospitals, said in a statement.

“We have long provided athletic training services to Northern Kentucky high schools and Thomas More College” in Crestview Hills, Giacomuzzi noted. “During this time, we have trained more than 150 coaches in CPR and provided extensive concussion education.”

Thomas More competes in Division III of the NCAA, which doesn’t get as much local or national media exposure as teams such as NKU that compete in Division I. NKU’s athletes began competing in Division I in the 2012-13 season, and last year Norse teams played in 64 games televised by ESPN3. This is the first year the university is eligible to compete in D-I postseason play, which could broaden exposure for St. Elizabeth.

NKU’s transition to Division I status came after a run at the Division II level that included three national championships – two in women’s basketball and one in men’s soccer – as well as numerous regional and conference titles across all 17 programs.

Under the agreement, St. Elizabeth will add two full-time athletic trainers to the staff covering the Norse while also providing a physical therapist who will be on NKU’s campus three times a week. The agreement includes access to the services of a registered dietitian to improve the nutritional education for the university’s student-athletes.

Molly Woods, who is associate athletic director at NKU, is among the university’s five current athletic trainers who will continue to serve the Norse.

Dr. James Bilbo of Commonwealth remains the NKU program’s medical director and head team orthopedist.

“As head team physician at NKU, I’m looking forward to continuing my longstanding relationship providing the best sports medicine care to NKU’s student-athletes,” Bilbo said in the statement issued by the university. “Division I athletics requires care which enhances quick recovery and minimizes time away from sport, and that is what Commonwealth Orthopaedic Centers provide. … I look forward to now partnering with St. Elizabeth in this effort.”

Dr. Forest Heis, a Commonwealth physician who specializes in knee and shoulder surgery, continues as the assistant team orthopedist.

Dr. Matthew DesJardins of Commonwealth remains the primary care physician for the Norse. He is being joined by Dr. Tyler Browning and Dr. Michael Miller from St. Elizabeth, who both specialize in sports medicine. Miller has been the medical director of St. Elizabeth Sports Medicine since it was founded in 1988, and he has been team doctor of Thomas More College athletics since then.

NKU has access to all of the doctors at Commonwealth to provide medical services as needed. Commonwealth, which has five locations in Northern Kentucky and one in Cincinnati, includes 20 doctors who specialize in sports medicine, arthroscopic surgery, reconstructive surgery and total joint replacement as well as procedures involving the hand, shoulder and elbow, hip and knee, foot and ankle, and spine.

The practice, which is one of the largest in the region, provides a team physician to 13 high schools and serves as orthopedic consultants to the athletic program at Thomas More College.

The number of athletes who seek the services of sports medicine specialists to treat or prevent injuries is on the rise in Greater Cincinnati, and health care providers are sprinting to accommodate demand.

That explains the branding and marketing blitz launched in the last few years by hospital systems and independent physician groups. All are eager to associate themselves with high school, collegiate and professional sports teams.

Garren Colvin, CEO of St. Elizabeth, earned a master’s in business administration from Northern Kentucky University in 1996. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from Thomas More in 1986.

I previously reported that St. Elizabeth invested $8 million to build and equip a simulation center inside NKU's planned Health Innovation Center.