College of Charleston Athletics and Medical University of South Carolina announce integrated, multi-year relationship

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Sept. 24, 2020) – On the heels of introducing a relationship between College of Charleston and Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to provide enhanced overall health care and psychiatric services to CofC students, the affiliation has further expanded to CofC Athletics and is under way now. 

MUSC Health immediately assumes the exclusive category designation of being the Cougars’ “Official Health Care Partner.” In addition to providing best-in-class orthopedic and primary sports medicine services to all Cougar student-athletes, MUSC Health now serves as CofC’s team doctors and provides complete physician and medical support. 

“The Medical University of South Carolina is a tremendous partner of the College of Charleston and has been for years,” said College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu. “Our close geographic proximity, of course, helps but it’s our shared public mission to serve students and the community that puts us in true alignment. MUSC’s longstanding and close partnerships with our academic programs – from biology to chemistry to psychology to public health – and our recent partnership to enhance the College’s Student Health Services are just two examples of state higher-education collaboration at its best. And this new corporate sponsorship between the Cougars athletics program and MUSC Health is yet another highlight of that close partnership.” 

According to MUSC Health’s Sports Medicine Manager Michael Barr (’01), DPT, “Our sports medicine team and all of MUSC Health is excited about our recent partnership to provide the highest quality of care possible to the students and student-athletes at the College of Charleston. The Cougars have a historic and an outstanding athletics program, and our sports medicine team, in conjunction with their current athletics trainers, is excited for the opportunity to work with their athletes and help enhance their overall health and wellness. As a Cougar soccer alum, I am extremely proud to be able to provide the comprehensive level of care to the CofC athletes that only MUSC Health can deliver.”  

The strategic relationship with CofC Athletics was secured by Charleston Sports Properties, the Cougars’ multimedia rightsholder and locally based Learfield IMG College team. Charleston Sports Properties will oversee all aspects of the MUSC agreement, which also includes significant visibility for MUSC Health at campus athletics venues TD Arena and Patriots Point.  

"We are excited to partner with MUSC Health and its team of health care professionals,” added College of Charleston Director of Athletics Matt Roberts. “Our College of Charleston student-athletes' health, safety and well-being are our No. 1 priority. This relationship provides the resources necessary to improve the comprehensive health care for our student-athletes."

“MUSC and the College of Charleston have enjoyed a long-standing collaborative relationship. The opportunity to deliver high-quality, convenient health care for student-athletes is a great addition to our partnership portfolio, which includes the recent announcement of a broader student health collaboration and other academic projects,” said MUSC Health Chief External Affairs Officer Caroline Brown. “We look forward to working with CofC on enhancing the health, wellness and performance of all students and meeting the unique needs of the talented, dedicated student-athletes.”

About the Medical University of South Carolina  

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South as well as the state’s only integrated academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state’s leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, MUSC brought in more than $284 million in fiscal year 2019.

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians’ practice plan and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2020, for the sixth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.  

 

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of more than $3.2 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.