Dr. Wally Walstrom, D.O., is filling a gap in health-care services at St. Rose Health Center in a specialty that is not common in this area.

            Dr. Walstrom, a native Kansan, recently joined the HaysMed Specialty Clinic at St. Rose where he is providing primary-care sports medicine services. He will care for and treat patients monthly at the clinic.

            A one-year fellowship in sports medicine is only part of his extensive training. Dr. Walstrom also performed a dual residency in osteopathic family medicine and allopathic family medicine. He splits most of his time between the Hays Orthopedic Institute and HaysMed Family Medicine.

            Hays Medical Center is the sole owner of St. Rose.

            “Primary-care sports medicine is not prevalent in this area,” Dr. Walstrom said. “I appreciate the opportunity to help fill this gap. I am excited to bring to central Kansans something they didn’t have before.”

            Primary-care services in sports medicine include: fracture management; injections for a variety of conditions; ultrasound procedures for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes; whole blood injections for chronic tendon and muscle issues; procedures to tighten ligaments; and education about injury prevention.

            “And, of course, concussions are major concerns that we can diagnose and treat,” Dr. Walstrom noted. “A big concern is getting athletes back into the game in a timely fashion. We have to find the right balance between letting them play too soon and staying out too long.”

            In addition to his patient care at St. Rose and HaysMed, Dr. Walstrom also is the Fort Hays State University team doctor. He was team doctor at Wichita Northwest High School, Wichita State University and Newman University, as well as for the Wichita Wingnuts, Wichita Thunder and Wichita Wild.

            Other student sports services have involved: Kansas high school state wrestling; Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament; College World Series; and several others.

            Dr. Walstrom has provided health-care services to professional athletes at events including the Ironman World Championship.

            On a personal level, he is no stranger to sports. Dr. Walstrom enjoys kayaking, basketball, triathlons, rappelling and other activities. He was a pole-vaulter at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and Kansas State University.

            He earned his master’s of bioscience at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in 2008, and his doctorate in osteopathic medicine at the same facility in 2012. His dual residency in osteopathic family medicine and allopathic family medicine, and sports medicine fellowship followed at Via Christi in Wichita in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

            Dr. Walstrom is originally from Marysville, and his wife, Amanda, is from the Great Bend area. They have family in central Kansas.

“It has been great to get back to this part of the state,” he said, noting he started working at HaysMed a year ago. “I hope to make new friends in Great Bend and the surrounding communities.”

            St. Rose Health Center specializes in primary care, prevention and wellness. Services include St. Rose Family Medicine, Convenient Care Walk-in Clinic, Great Bend Internists, Imaging, Cardiac Rehab, Physical Therapy, Golden Belt Home Health & Hospice and a comprehensive Specialty Clinic.

St. Rose Health Center complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age disability, or sex.