The staff organizing the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games Alaska is still searching for additional medical volunteers, particularly physicians.

Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch speaks Saturday during dedication of the new day lodge at Hilltop Ski Area. Hilltop will serve as the host facility and media center for the snowboarding competition and ski jump exhibition for the Special Olympics. (Evan R. Steinhauser / Anchorage Daily News)

Dennis Brodigan, medical services manager for the Games, said scheduling the competition around spring break both helped and hurt volunteer recruitment of almost 500 nurses, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and doctors.

"The good news is that there's a lot of school nurses that don't have to go to school," he said. The majority of medical volunteers are local, Brodigan said. Many nurses have taken vacation time from work to donate hours to the Games, said Dr. Jennifer Dow, an Anchorage doctor working with the Special Olympics.

But spring break also means physicians may be using time off for personal vacations. Brodigan said many doctors are headed out of town or covering for doctors who will be gone, which doesn't give them much time to volunteer.

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Brodigan needs physicians to cover about eight daytime and evening shifts at a Special Olympics clinic and an equal number of midnight-to-8 a.m shifts on call. The clinic, at the HealthSouth medical center at 4001 Lake Otis Parkway, will be dedicated to the nonemergency needs of athletes, coaches and other people in the Special Olympics delegation. Medical professionals will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Brodigan said.

In addition, nurses are needed to cover about 20 night shifts at Olympic Village venues.

The Special Olympics will accept help from any type of physician, but those with the most applicable skills are pediatricians or family practice, general practice, internal medicine and emergency room doctors, as well as physician assistants and nurse practitioners, Brodigan and Dow said. Physicians need to provide their own medical malpractice insurance, Brodigan said.

Each medical volunteer will receive a uniform to keep after the Games are over. The uniform includes two long-sleeve shirts, a fleece vest and a jacket, Brodigan said.

Any medical professional interested in volunteering during the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games Alaska should call Brodigan at 277-2630.

n Reporter Ann Potempa can be reached at apotempa@adn.com and 257-4581.