Newport News, Va. – Riverside now offers the largest and most innovative wound care center in Virginia’s Peninsula region of Hampton Roads thanks to the recent opening of an expanded facility on the Riverside Regional Medical Center campus.
“The Advanced Wound Care Center at Riverside Hospital Medical Center is a referral-driven outpatient facility that treats wounds from the simple to the complex in patients of all ages,” said Mike Dacey, M.D., Riverside President and Chief Operating Officer. “Our goal is to heal chronic wounds, improve outcomes and prevent limb loss.”
The addition of two high-tech hyperbaric chambers, along with more treatment space, enables the center to ramp up operations and treat more patients.
“Considering that over six million Americans experience a wound that won’t heal, our goal is to treat as many patients in our community as possible, up to 600 patients per month, which is more than the 320 we were able to treat per month prior to the expansion,” said David I. Cohen, M.D., Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Riverside Regional Medical Center.
Care at the center starts with a comprehensive evaluation to identify the variables that prevent healing in each patient.
“Treatment plans are physician-guided and protocol-driven, including specialty dressings, advanced procedures and holistic components such as nutrition in healing,” said Jason T. Garrison, M.D., of the Advanced Wound Care Center.
Care is delivered by a team with over three decades of combined wound experience.
“Improving or correcting those processes, coordinating with other specialists as needed and working in a team approach with in-house and outside providers allows us to drive the healing process,” said Program Director William Webb.
The two hyperbaric chambers are a particularly exciting new addition to the center, Webb said.
“This helps oxygenate tissue,” Webb said. “The hyperbaric chamber delivers oxygenation at 10x the amount they would receive while breathing normal air. This helps to stimulate blood vessel formation to promote healing.”
Originally developed to treat decompression sickness in some divers, hyperbaric therapy helps patients suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, severe diabetic foot wounds, sudden hearing loss, partial amputations, bone infections, unexpected radiation treatment effects and more. Patients spend one and a half to two hours at the center during daily treatments with the number of sessions determined by their diagnosis and clinical response.
The Advanced Wound Care Center is operated in partnership with Shared Health Services, a nationally recognized wound care management company, and located toward the back of Riverside Regional Medical Center, near the radiosurgery center, and features a separate entrance and convenient parking, with handicapped access right outside.
Referrals come from cancer treatment centers, primary care providers, podiatrists, surgeons, endocrinologists, orthopedic surgeons and other medical practitioners caring for patients with special wounds. The center even works with dentists to help patients who have previously experienced head and neck radiation therapy. Hyperbaric treatments before and after tooth extractions can support the healing process for this group.