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Special Olympics picks Orlando Health as medical provider for 2022 games

Orlando Sentinel - 11/15/2019

Orlando Health will be the official medical care provider for the Special Olympics 2022 USA Games in Orlando, the health system announced on Friday.

“People with unique abilities are very frequently some of the most underserved patients in healthcare so this partnership is not just about helping these athletes compete and succeed, it’s also about working with Special Olympics Florida to learn how we, as a health system, can become more attuned to the needs of our patients with intellectual disabilities,” said Cary D’Ortona, Orlando Health executive champion for the partnership and president of Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, in a news release.

The health system has also struck a multi-year partnership with Special Olympics Florida, which will kick off its State Fall Classic on November 15 and 16 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World.

The 2022 Special Olympics USA, which will take place in June, is expected to bring more than 4,000 athletes and 125,000 fans to Orlando.

The event is expected to have a $61 million impact on local economy.

Special Olympics began to take shape in Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s backyard more than 50 years ago, when she started to hold summer day camps for people with intellectual disabilities.

The first Special Olympics Summer Games was held in July 1968 in Chicago, with about 1,000 athletes from the U.S. and Canada competing.

Now in its fifth decade, Special Olympics operates in 172 countries and has more than 5.4 million athletes.

nmiller@orlandosentinel.com.

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