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A Tucson hospital will become the first facility in Arizona to hold a free clinic offering state-of-the-art concussion care for high school athletes.

Beginning Aug. 4, the Arizona Institute for Sports Medicine will hold Saturday morning concussion clinics at University Physicians Hospital, Kino Campus.

The next-day clinic will help diagnose and treat concussions suffered in high school football games using the Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) system. The clinic is free, though X-rays and other necessary tests will be charged to the athlete's insurance. Doctors recommend each school pay $500 annually to participate in ImPACT's baseline testing program to make diagnosis and treatment easier. Athletes in any sport don't need to take the baseline test to receive treatment.

"There's really no place in town for kids to go if they get their bell rung or have a head injury. Basically, those are all concussions," said Dr. Robert Hunter, an orthopedic surgeon and the co-founder of the Arizona Institute for Sports Medicine. "(The clinic) gives us a chance to treat all these kids routinely and uniformly, which is the best part. If you have a concussion and play for Cholla, you'll get treated the same as if you played for (Vail) Empire."

A concussion is a closed-head injury that occurs when the brain rattles against the skull following sudden impact. Between 1.6 million and 3.8 million people suffer concussions each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Nationally, 10 percent of all athletes — and 5 to 10 percent of all football players — will suffer concussions in the next 12 months.

Concussions are not curable, but proper treatment can prevent athletes from suffering long-term brain damage.

The clinic will provide high school athletes with the kind of treatment usually reserved for college players and professionals, Hunter said.

The concussion clinic will be one of a handful of morning-after clinics offered throughout Southern Arizona. The Tucson Orthopaedic Institute has held a bumps-and-bruises clinic during the football season for more than a decade.

"Anything to help kids with injuries, whether it's the Saturday Orthopaedic Institute or a concussions clinic, is going to be good for us and good for the kids," said Todd Mayfield, the longtime football coach at Palo Verde High School.

Doctors believe the ImPACT system is the key to determining the level of each athlete's head injury. But it comes with a price tag.

The system, including the baseline and follow-up tests and 24-hour support, costs about $500 annually per school, money that cash-strapped Tucson Unified School District does not have, district officials say.

Each of TUSD's 10 high schools receives $21,000 annually for basic sports expenses.

"And that's not a lot of money," said Sheila Baize, TUSD's head of interscholastics. "We are simply down to the bare bones of buying uniforms and equipment."

Baize is hopeful that a private donor can help fund the baseline testing. A year ago, a donor paid to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs), costing $3,000 apiece, put in each school's weight room. Last year, the district spent $15,000 on 100 specialized Schutt DNA helmets to protect against concussions.

ImPACT deals with treatment rather than prevention. Designed in 2000 by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's concussion team, the ImPACT system has allowed doctors to both quantify and simplify a complicated injury.

A computerized ImPACT test is administered when athletes are healthy. Injured athletes then re-take the test following a hit. If the results correspond within a certain level of consistency, players can return to the field. Schools that subscribe receive 24-hour-a-day support from UPMC, the nation's most established concussion program.

Micky Collins, a neuropsychologist at UPMC who has treated Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama, said Tucson's new clinic is "sorely needed." UPH is the 39th hospital in the world to utilize the ImPACT system to diagnose and treat head injuries, Collins said.

"It's not hard for schools or kids to get on board," Collins said. "When you have a concussion, go to places like (UPH) to get treated."

The UPH clinic was designed to help players like Robert Rowe.

Rowe, the star quarterback at Marana High School, suffered a concussion three years ago.

Rowe, now a senior, was participating in a "hitting drill" when an oversized upperclassman drilled him at an angle. Rowe knew something was wrong as soon as he hit the ground.

"My head was ringing and ringing and ringing," Rowe said. "I played on the varsity as a freshman, so I guess that's what you get. Those guys were big."

Rowe knew the telltale signs of a concussion but did not go to the doctor. He was held out of contact drills for a few days before returning to action.

Rowe's experience is fairly common, especially when dealing with an injury that is often either underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. UPMC's doctors estimate that as many as 3.5 million concussions go unreported every year.

Athletes give plenty of reasons, but pride, poor medical treatment and limited access to specialists are considered the three biggest hurdles.

Doctors are optimistic the Saturday morning clinic could help eliminate all three.

"It's all pretty simple," said Hunter, the clinic's co-founder. "This makes sure that athletes don't get back into competition until they're healed, and it allows them to get back once they are."

Rowe's uncle said his family is comforted by the idea of the new clinic. Pete Guzman often watches Rowe's games with the quarterback's mom and nervous grandmother. The family can tell if Rowe is injured by the way he walks after getting hit.

"This is good for athletes like Robert," Guzman said. "This way, they can be treated right away in case anything major happens."

Rowe is sold.

"Of course I'd go," he said. "What athlete who has a concussion wouldn't?"