New Wound Care Center Serves a Remote Area
October 31, 2007
Hyperbaric and Wound Care Center at Davis Hospital
LAYTON, UTAH
The Northern Utah area was totally underserved for specialized wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy until the Hyperbaric and Wound Care Center at Davis Hospital opened in April 2007.An outpatient service of the largest hospital in the county, the wound center is located in a new office building next to the hospital Emergency Room. Davis Hospital is owned by Iasis HealthCare.
The new wound center features four spacious treatment rooms and a large, connecting hyperbaric chamber room with three Perry Sigma (Perry Baromedical, Riviera Beach, Fla) monoplace hyperbaric chambers. The first floor center affords easy access for patients. The layout includes room for expansion.
The educated, progressive medical staff includes a nurse manager, fully qualified in ostomy and wound care, and two additional full-time nurses with strong backgrounds in Critical Care and surgery. The nurses have been well trained in all levels of wound care and are enhancing their wound care credentials. The Medical Director, Dr. Tommy Love, is trained in Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care and is a Fellow, College of Certified Wound Care Specialists. An additional physician with Hyperbaric Medicine fellowship training and strong wound care experience soon will join the care team. The Hyperbaric Technician staff consists of two full-time, experienced Certified Hyperbaric Technologists (CHT) and two technicians-in-training (they will be ready to take their certification in 6 months).
A comprehensive wound care clinic, the center is capable of treating acute, chronic, radiation-induced, necrotizing, venous, and arterial wounds using the latest technologies and supplies that include skin grafts using bioengineered human skin grown from stem cells. People with diabetes-related wounds may receive hyperbaric therapy as many as five times a week. In addition to its wound care capabilities, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is available for conditions that do not involve wound healing (eg, diving injuries, carbon monoxide poisoning, central retinal artery and/or vein occlusion, certain intracranial abscesses, and arterial gas embolism). Other services provided include ostomy teaching, planning, and care; non-invasive vascular testing with transcutaneous oximetery; and IV infusion (weekdays).
Patients, providers, and the community are reaping the benefits of having a comprehensive wound care and hyperbaric medicine clinic. Comprehensive wound care centers allow for the concentration of specialized technologies, materials, and specialists— the focus and function are to care for wounds, Patients can be seen as frequently as needed and be provided the continuity of care essential in healing difficult wounds.
TWC asked Lora Kier, RN, Director of Community Relations/Marketing for Davis Hospital and Medical Center, to fill in some of the details of the center’s operations.
Hyperbaric and Wound Care Center at Davis Hospital
TWC: Is your center independently managed or overseen by a management company?
LK: Our clinic is an outpatient function of Davis Hospital and is managed administratively with a clinic manager. The Medical Director is responsible to the CEO for the care and medical standards applied to our patients.
TWC: How do you generate your patient base?
LK: We source patients from care facilities, direct referrals from medical providers, other hospitals, stand-alone urgent care centers, and emergency rooms.
TWC: What are the most common wounds you treat?
LK: Like most other wound clinics, we treat the entire gamut of wounds. Most of the wounds/ulcers occur in our patients with diabetes, with venous and arterial ulcers second.With the increasing use of radiation to treat cancer, soft tissue radionecrosis is more common.
TWC: How is your center marketed?
LK: Because we are a department of Davis Hospital, we are marketed through Davis’s Marketing Director, as well as Iasis HealthCare’s regional and national programs. The physician staff also does one on one marketing with other physicians and healthcare entities.
TWC: What have been some of your biggest operational challenges?
LK: Currently, our biggest challenge is our rapid growth and the increasing demand for quality wound care. We had to expand our hyperbaric capability by 33% in the first 6 weeks and are now taking bids for a large multiplace hyperbaric chamber.We have expanded our nursing staff and will be expanding our office space in the near future.
TWC: What sets you apart from other similar facilities?
LK:We are a patient-focused, outcomeoriented, comprehensive wound care and hyperbaric medicine clinic.We care for our patients as if they were family in a warm, friendly, and professional setting. Of this we are very proud.■
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