University Hospitals Launches Specialized Care Program for Female Athletes

Innovations in Orthopaedics | Summer 2026

This spring, University Hospitals launched an innovative medical initiative that provides comprehensive, evidence-based care to female athletes of all ages and at all competitive levels.

James Voos, MD

Lisa Piazza, RN, BSN, MBA

The mission of the newly formed Specialized Care for Female Athletes program is to empower and support women in sports and to extend the University Hospitals Drusinsky Sports Medicine Institute’s standing as a trusted regional and national leader in female athlete health.

“As we have cared for athletes from Pee Wee to pro over the past decade, we continue to listen to our patients and seek ways to enhance their level of care,” says James Voos, MD, Executive Director of the UH Haslam Sports Innovation Center, the Charles H. Herndon Professor and Chair at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Head Team Physician for the Cleveland Browns. “Formalizing this specialized program for women and girls is a direct response to feedback from our female athletes, and we are committed to addressing their unique needs as their health care partner.”

The no-cost program integrates multidisciplinary expertise to close a longstanding gap in the navigation of women’s sports medicine. Female athletes disproportionately present with specific injuries, including ACL tears and stress fractures, and face challenges related to their metabolic, hormonal and cardiovascular profiles.

These distinctions are often underrecognized in standard sports medicine protocols. Too often, women find themselves reaching out to multiple providers without a pathway for coordinated medical care.

Lisa Piazza, RN, BSN, MBA, Operations Director at the UH Drusinsky Sports Medicine Institute, recognized the challenge female athletes face on a national scale.

“For women at any level of training or working to maintain an active lifestyle, their bodies are constantly changing,” Piazza says. “I started looking around the country to see what was available that really spoke to females and their specific challenges, but I wasn’t finding anything comprehensive or holistic.”

Piazza created a 10-question survey and distributed it to University Hospitals Cleveland Marathon participants. Within three days, she received 300 responses.

“The feedback was very insightful,” she says. “Women are looking for providers who understand their bodies and know how to apply that understanding to their safety, fitness and lifestyle goals.”

Piazza formed an advisory panel of women stakeholders across different ages and life stages, including athletes and moms of teenage girls who want to protect and care for their daughters involved in sports.

Drawing on the concierge model that underscores the integrated health care UH provides as the official medical partner of the Cleveland Browns, Piazza assembled a team spanning multiple service lines to identify physicians and specialists interested in collaborating to proactively address the needs of active women and teens.

UH experts are addressing injury prevention, endocrine and menstrual health, pelvic floor strength, heart health, mental health and questions about proper training, fueling and recovery.

Katie Nguyen, ATC, Clinical Athletic Trainer, is serving as the UH Female Athlete Concierge, providing an initial point of contact who can listen and connect women with the appropriate service line.

“We spent time building the infrastructure so that patients could talk to a real person and set up an appointment with a provider within 24 to 48 hours,” Piazza says. “One of the first calls since our go-live was from an athlete who felt her obstetrician was not able to provide the guidance she needed during pregnancy, and she has since switched her care to UH.”

UH Drusinsky team members are always scanning the horizon for opportunities to expand sports medicine care and educational outreach.

“This is one of the first programs in the country that brings together the full spectrum of specialists to provide comprehensive, highly personalized care to our female athletes,” Dr. Voos says. “Practicing medicine with our feet in the grass takes us outside the hospital walls, creating access points that build relationships and trust within our community and serving as a gateway for healthy individuals and families to join our broader health system.”

To learn more or schedule an appointment, contact Katie Nguyen at 216-285-6023.

Contributing Experts: James Voos, MD and Lisa Piazza, RN, BSN, MBA