Recommended Citation
(2021)
"Wound Healing Centers Offer Specialized Expertise & Resources,"
Jefferson Surgical Solutions: Vol. 16:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
Available at:
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/jss/vol16/iss2/6
COinS
The Wound Healing Centers of Jefferson Health provide a focal point for multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment of patients with non-healing wounds and those who have had or will have a bowel or bladder ostomy surgery.
According to Regional Director Lisa Hill, MSN, RN, CWOCN, the program traces its roots to 1999, when Abington Hospital created its first wound care center. Today the Centers offer easily accessible care at locations throughout the Delaware Valley.
Care is delivered by medical and nursing professionals specially trained in evaluating wounds and ostomies and recommending an individualized treatment plan for each patient. The team includes certified wound, ostomy and continence nurses, certified wound care nurses and physician specialists trained in hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Jefferson’s program has emerged as a leader not only in patient care but also in research related to wound care. Clinicians have conducted research and presented national data on the positive impacts of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on radiation tissue injury. Active studies are exploring treatment of diabetic foot wounds and interrelationships between stroke and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
The Wound Healing Centers attracted national recognition for the treatment of a cardiac catheterization patient with a non-healing wound. As Hill explains, the patient had been seeing a primary care physician, who was unable to determine why the wound was not healing.
“Our team figured out it was actually a burn wound caused by radiofrequency from her cardiac catheterization procedure,” she recalls. “We were able to treat the wound because we understood the cause. For every patient we treat, we perform a thorough assessment to identify root causes and then establish the course of treatment that will best heal the wound.”
The centers offer a full complement of outpatient services, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat 13 conditions (diabetic foot wounds, radiation tissue injuries, osteomyelitis and osteoradionecrosis are the most common). Clinicians at the centers also support a smooth continuum of care for ostomy patients.
“When a patient is scheduled for a bowel or bladder diversion, our team marks the patient’s abdomen for the location of the ostomy,” Hill says. “Following surgery, we support post-operative healing starting in the hospital and continuing after the patient is discharged.”
Most insurance plans cover care by the Wound Healing Centers of Jefferson Health. To schedule an appointment, call the most convenient location (see below).