Chronic wounds: A persistent situation

New Advanced Wound Center at Faith Regional offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Nearly 6 million patients in America are affected by chronic wounds, costing the U.S. health care system an estimated $20 billion annually. Chief causes of a breakdown in the wound healing process include diabetes, infection, inadequate local wound responsiveness, and unrelieved pressure. Fortunately, the new Advanced Wound Center at Faith Regional Health Services offers treatment options that can help heal chronic wounds, giving doctors, nurses, and physical therapists a proven resource in affecting positive outcomes for their patients.

Advancing Wound Care

“Innovation and an unwavering commitment to patient care are the cornerstones of our hospital,” said Kelly Driscoll, vice president of Patient Care Services at Faith Regional. “We’re proud to offer the only doctor-driven wound healing and hyperbaric center in our area.”

The Advanced Wound Center is a partnership between Faith Regional and Accelecare Wound Centers of Seattle. Accelecare is able to give hospitals superior patient care via an array of frontline treatment options that result in industry-leading clinical outcomes. The Advanced Wound Center works with physicians, nurses, and multiple medical disciplines to help patients improve the quality of their lives.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is one of several advanced wound care modalities provided at our Advanced Wound Center. HBOT is used along with other procedures or as a primary treatment when other options fail.

HBOT allows a patient to breathe 100 percent oxygen. The result is an increase of 10 to 15 times in plasma oxygen concentration. HBOT also encourages the formation of new blood vessels, which creates the optimal environment for the body’s natural healing processes to repair damaged tissue.

“Healing a chronic wound can be one of the most difficult challenges in medicine,” stated Tristan Hartzell, M.D., a hand, plastic, and reconstructive surgeon at Faith Regional. “I am extremely excited that we have brought together leaders in the nursing field, vascular surgery, podiatry, general medicine, general surgery, and infectious disease to tackle them. Wound care deserves a true, concerted multidisciplinary approach, and I am very happy that we can offer this to our patients.”

Outpatient wound care services first began at Faith Regional in 2005. Wound patients are also seen through Home Health Care, in the Acute Rehab unit, and through Rehabilitation Therapies. Wound care modalities have expanded with the advancement in wound care techniques and in the use of wound vacs, and with the addition of infectious disease, cardiovascular, and plastic reconstructive physicians to the medical staff at Faith Regional.

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