BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Arnold Palmer’s name will gain a permanent place in Baltimore when the Arnold Palmer Sports Health Center at Union Memorial Hospital is unveiled Thursday.

“He is one of the most well-known and recognized names in professional sports that it only made sense to extend his quality brand name to a renowned sports medicine program,” said Debra Schindler Kohlhepp, senior media relations specialist at UMH.

Palmer will join Union Memorial officials, including hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham, at Hayfields Country Club on Thursday to announce the new health center’s name.

“He didn’t pay us, and we didn’t pay him,” Kohlhepp said.

Palmer’s name is associated with several other health care facilities, including the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women in Orlando, Fla., the Latrobe, Pa., Area Hospital Arnold Palmer Pavilion for cancer treatment and the Arnold Palmer Prostate Center at Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Sports medicine is nothing new for Union Memorial. In fact, its sports medicine department began as a one-day-a-week offering in its emergency room in 1979.

Today, the hospital is the medical provider to pro football’s Baltimore Ravens, provides physician services to the Baltimore Blast soccer team, and provides medical coverage and athletic trainers to 24 high schools and colleges.

It is also home to the Curtis National Hand Center, named for physician Raymond Miller Curtis, where Graham sees patients.

Graham, known throughout the sports world as a specialist in his field, this week was expected to examine Travis Hafner of Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians franchise, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Sunday. Hafner, the Indians’ designated hitter, suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand when he was hit by a pitch Sept. 1.

Palmer, 76, withdrew from this year’s Senior PGA Tour in Oklahoma City, saying he was concerned he couldn’t be competitive. He is in Baltimore this week as one of the premier players in the Constellation Energy Classic golf tournament, part of the Professional Golfers’ of America Champions Tour. His fans, known throughout his professional career as Arnie’s army, are expected to crowd the Hayfields Country Club for final rounds of the PGA tournament get under way this weekend.

kcarson@baltimoreexaminer.com