Media Releases

Partnership with Brewers Announced

(May 25, 2006) — A new three-year partnership between Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Brewers is a wide-ranging effort that reaches beyond the ballpark and into the community to drive home important health messages. “This partnership was appealing to us because it emphasized community service as a major component and goes far beyond the standard sponsorship arrangement,” said William D. Petasnick, president and CEO of Froedtert Hospital. “The Brewers players and staff are well-regarded, and their celebrity status will help us connect with groups that can be difficult to reach, especially at-risk families. It’s a great opportunity to help instill healthy habits and behaviors and the Brewers will help us attract attention to these messages.”

The partnership will include health information at Miller Park on game days, coaching clinics for high school and college teams, and “healthy kids” initiatives at local schools. “We chose Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin for our organization’s medical services due to their leadership in the field, and the results have been outstanding,” said Rick Schlesinger, Brewers Executive Vice President – Business Operations. “Taking this relationship to the next level makes great sense for everyone involved.”

Froedtert & the Medical College are involved in a partnership with Westside Academies I and II, a charter school in the Milwaukee Public School District. Froedtert provides one full-time school nurse for their two campuses and will team with the Brewers to sponsor a unique promotion that will have students from the Academy switching places with executives from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Roots of partnership previously in place

Froedtert & the Medical College have had a relationship with the Brewers since 2001, when orthopaedic surgeon William Raasch, MD, director of the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Medicine Center, became the head physician for the Brewers. Last year, the Brewers medical team (led by Raasch), won the Dick Martin Award, presented annually to baseball’s top medical and athletic training staff. Raasch is leading a three year study, funded in part through a grant from Major League Baseball, investigating how the height of the pitchers mound might increase the risk of injury in a player.

The new partnership will spotlight the Sports Medicine Center, offering coaching clinics for local high school and college teams at the center featuring a Brewers player or offering a Brewers promotion. The center specializes in services and state-of-the-science equipment and treatment techniques to help athletes prevent injury, achieve optimal performance and attain full recovery.