MOBILE, Alabama (May 29, 2026) – More than 1,000 Mobile County high school athletes and band members visited the USA Mitchell Center on Friday, May 29, for free physicals and CPR training offered by providers from USA Health, the academic health system for the University of South Alabama, the Flagship of the Gulf Coast.

USA Health sports medicine physicians, family medicine physicians, and orthopaedic surgeons, with the help of USA nursing and allied health students, evaluated the high schoolers during the daylong event. They checked the students’ blood pressure, vision, heart, lungs, abdomen, ears, nose and throat. They evaluated posture, joints, strength and flexibility, and discussed any medical needs or concerns.

“The annual sports physical event for high school athletes remains one of the strongest examples of our collaboration with schools in the community,” said Peter Rippey, M.D., CAQSM, a sports medicine physician at USA Health and assistant professor of family medicine at USA’s Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine. Rippey also serves as medical director and team physician for South Alabama Athletics. “By offering comprehensive screenings, including EKGs, we help ensure student athletes are healthy, prepared and able to begin training safely and on schedule.”

Team members from USA Health also provided 375 EKGs in partnership with Who We Play For, a Florida nonprofit. An EKG is a quick test that records the heart’s electrical activity to screen for health conditions that increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

In addition, students had the opportunity to receive CPR/AED training, which can help them save a life in an emergency. Representatives from the American Heart Association and local EMTs worked with small groups of students at the event to practice CPR skills on manikins.

USA Health is the official provider of sports medicine for many Mobile County public high schools, McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, Faith Academy, St. Luke’s Episcopal School, Chickasaw High School and the Alabama School of Math and Science.

About USA Health 

USA Health, the academic health system for the University of South Alabama, the Flagship of the Gulf Coast, is the leading academic health system in the region. With more than 40 care delivery locations, including University Hospital, Children’s & Women’s Hospital, Providence Hospital and the Mitchell Cancer Institute, and physician practices throughout the area, the health system melds clinical care, research and healthcare education into the most advanced medical care in the region.