Colorado University Sports Medicine and Performance Center

The CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center is dedicated to providing world-class medicine and sports science to athletes and active people of all levels and ages. This is accomplished with a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, surgeons, sports scientists, physical therapists and athletic trainers providing cutting-edge evidence-based care programs so that our patients and clients can achieve their athletic goals.

It is the vision of the CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center to be a community, regional, national and international destination for athletes and active people who seek the highest quality of medicine and science to optimize their peak performance and quality of life.

The CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center will be a community leader in research and education that strives to help our community live healthy athletic lives.

Serving the champion inside of you!

A brief history…

The CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center unites Dr. Pruitt and Dr. Eric McCarty. Dr. Pruitt, who was an athletic trainer from 1973 to 1983 and served on the CU faculty from 1983 to 1985, was the CU Director of Sports Medicine when Dr. McCarty was recruited to play football. Over the years, their paths crossed as they pursued personal goals: Dr. Pruitt to provide top sports medicine care to the public, Dr. McCarty to serve as a team physician.

In 1985, Dr. Pruitt helped open Western Orthopedic Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation in Denver. While there, Dr. Pruitt served as an athletic trainer for the Olympic Training Centers and pre-Olympic Festivals. At the 1986 Olympic Festival in Houston, Dr. Pruitt made history being the first to hold dual credentials as medical staff, assigned to track and field, and as a competitor in cycling. In 2015, Dr. Pruitt retired after 43 years in practice.

After medical school, Dr. McCarty completed an orthopedic residency at Vanderbilt and a fellowship in sports medicine in New York City at the renowned Hospital for Special Surgery and joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1999, caring for sports teams there. Four years later he returned to CU and has served as head team physician for CU athletics since. He has worked particularly closely with the CU football, soccer and skiing teams and he also heads the orthopedic care for the University of Denver athletics with primary team responsibilities for the hockey and lacrosse teams.

The creation of CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center in 2015 joined the talents and passion of the professionals of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and the CU Sports Medicine Program into a state-of-the-art home dedicated to providing the best care to athletes of all skill levels – from elite competitors to weekend warriors. This new center also brings in innovative sports performance methodologies, physical therapy and imaging all under one roof.