Baptist Health Wound Care celebrates fifth anniversary
Chronic wounds affect approximately 6.7 million people in the US
(Paducah, Ky.) March 23, 2021 — With state-of-the-art equipment and specialized resources, Baptist Health Wound Care opened five years ago to take a leading role battling a growing healthcare crisis.
Data supports that one in four families has a family member with a chronic wound. Over the past five years, Baptist Health Wound Care has been able to care for more than 2,600 of these family members.
In all, chronic wounds affect approximately 6.7 million people in the US, a number expected to increase by two percent annually over the next decade. Obesity, vascular disease and an aging population can all contribute to the rising cases of chronic wounds.
Baptist Health Wound Care offers a specialized level of care typically not available in primary care settings for patients with both chronic and acute wounds. Through advanced treatments, such as negative pressure wound therapy, bio-engineered skin substitutes and biological and biosynthetic dressings, the center is equipped to improve wound and patient outcomes.
Another advanced therapy offered by Baptist Health Wound Care is hyperbaric oxygen therapy. During the non-invasive procedure, patients receive treatment relaxing on a bed incased in a large see-through acrylic shell surrounded by 100 percent oxygen. Hyperbaric oxygen medicine may be used to treat wounds related to more than a dozen conditions, including diabetic foot ulcers, radiation injuries to tissue and bone, necrotizing infections, compromised skin grafts and skin flaps and some types of arterial insufficiency and ischemia.
At Baptist Health Wound Care, wound care-credentialed providers, along with specially trained RNs, collaborate directly with home health services, primary care providers and specialists, as well as skilled nursing facilities to ensure appropriate care outside of the Wound Care Center. Treating nearly 300 wounds of various etiologies at any given time gives Baptist Health Wound Care a distinct advantage in providing the best treatment plans for patients with the highest chance for healing and limb salvage.
For more information on Baptist Health Wound Care services or to schedule an appointment for yourself or one of your family members, please call 270.575.2414. Physician referral not required.