On Wednesday morning, Keith Huggins waited for a diagnosis for two of his Special Olympics athletes.

Cross-country skier Michael Baley, left, suffered a sprained ankle while competing in the Games. The French athlete is instructed on how to treat the sprain from registered nurse Michelle Benak, center, via translator Heather Bell. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)

In just five hours, he needed to be back at the Federal Express Hangar, where his country, Trinidad and Tobago, was going to play a floor hockey match. He was hoping that Michael Alleyne and Jason Dandrade, both injured and resting on two separate exam tables in the Special Olympics Poly Clinic, would be able to play.

"That's my captain," he said, pointing to the athlete on one side of the curtain. "That's one of my star players," he said, pointing to the athlete on the other side.

Alleyne and Dandrade were typical patients at the Special Olympics clinic. The athletes play floor hockey, a sport that's injured almost half of the 300 athletes and coaches who needed medical help since the clinic opened, said Dennis Brodigan, medical services manager for the Games.

Like other injured athletes who've trained for the 2001 World Winter Games, these two men wanted to return to their competitions as soon as possible. The Poly Clinic was created for the Games to help athletes do just that.

HealthSouth, a Special Olympics sponsor, donated space at 4001 Lake Otis Parkway to serve as the clinic for the Games. Most of the year, the clinic isn't a clinic at all, although it used to be.

Last summer, HealthSouth converted its former clinic into a business office for billing services, said Dean Maniscalco, area administrator for HealthSouth. Though the billing staff moved in, medical equipment was kept there as well, Brodigan said.

"It looked like a big storeroom in there," he said. In the fall of 2000, HealthSouth and the Special Olympics began to turn the building back into a clinic. HealthSouth, Providence Alaska Medical Center and other health providers donated supplies. Medical volunteers started signing up to help. While Special Olympics was short volunteers until a week ago, Brodigan reported this week that he had enough staff. More than 600 nurses, physicians and emergency medical technicians had signed up.

The clinic opened Feb. 28. The billing services staff moved to the other half of the building or to offices elsewhere, Maniscalco said. A handwritten sign went on the door. That arrangement will continue until the clinic closes early next week and the building is once again transformed into business headquarters for HealthSouth.

Brodigan said Special Olympics tries to filter all nonemergency health care to one clinic, instead of many clinics, in the city hosting the Games.

"We're trying to create a buffer between the Games and the existing health care system so that any one medical facility isn't inundated with the walking wounded, so to speak," he said.

The 24-hour clinic is designed to handle laboratory work, X-rays, splints and casting, as well as physical examinations. Anything more serious than that needs to be referred to local emergency rooms, Brodigan said.

Freddy Alarcon Guerrero of Peru holds his jaw, which he injured during a floor hockey match on Wednesday. Nurse practitioner Kathy Callies tends to him at the clinic set up for Special Olympic athletes and their coaches. (Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)

As of midweek, most of the 300 athletes and coaches who needed medical care were treated and released at venues, Brodigan said. About 16-20 people have sought treatment each day at the clinic, with more athletes and coaches coming as the Games progressed, said Matt Dinon, the clinic's medical leader. So far, the clinic's staff has taken care of patients with illnesses, such as pink eye and respiratory infections, as well as sports-related injuries, Brodigan said.

Emergency rooms have taken care of worse problems. Providence Alaska Medical Center's emergency staff has seen 10 athletes or coaches since Sunday, said hospital spokeswoman Karina Jennings. Four were hospitalized Tuesday. Some had sports-related injuries, while others had pneumonia or infections, she said. About a half-dozen athletes were seen at Alaska Regional Hospital and one coach was seen at Alaska Native Medical Center's emergency room, according to hospital spokeswomen. No Games-related fatalities have been reported, Brodigan said.

Brodigan said several athletes have had seizures. One Norwegian athlete had a seizure on the plane flight to Anchorage and was later flown back home for hospitalization he said.

"We have the medical records of all the athletes," Brodigan said.

"We know who is prone to seizures." Brodigan said about 140 of the 1,700 Special Olympics athletes have past histories of seizure disorders. Some athletes also take medication to prevent them from occurring, and nurses are calling athletes' rooms during the Games to remind them to take the necessary drugs, he said.

Reporter Ann Potempa can be reached at apotempa@adn.com or 907 257-4581.