In the United States, chronic wounds affect 6.5 million patients, yet a study of 50 American medical schools found that students receive less than six hours of education in the science and care of wounds during their studies.
Rapides Wound Healing Center, located in the Medical Terrace office building at 211 Fourth Street in Alexandria, will open on June 21. The center will offer highly specialized wound care methodologies and treatments of chronic wounds and non-responsive conditions on an outpatient basis.
“Our patients would be those with wounds which do not heal in more than 30 days,” said Kim Lyons, Rapides Wound Healing Center program director. “Often, those patients have underlying medical conditions such as diabetes and vascular disease. That, combined with the aging population, tells us that there will be an increased need for this type of care.”
Likely candidates for treatment at the new center are those suffering from diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers, infections, compromised skin grafts and flaps, and wounds that haven't healed within 30 days.
Rapides Wound Healing Center has partnered with National Healing Corporation, which has a nationwide network of researchers and specialists and accounts for more than 30 percent of the country's managed and outsourced wound healing centers.
Physicians, nurses and technicians at Rapides Wound Healing Center receive specialized training at the National Healing Institute on The Ohio State University campus and have the opportunity to attend research symposiums featuring noted experts.
Leading edge treatments at the center will include negative pressure wound therapy, bio-engineered tissues, biosynthetic dressings and growth factor therapies.
The center also will offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which works by surrounding the patient with 100 percent oxygen at higher than normal atmospheric pressure as the patient watches television or talks with others. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases the amount of oxygen in a patient’s blood, allowing oxygen to pass more easily through the plasma into the wounds to heal them. The only physical sensation resulting from the treatment is a slight pressure on the eardrum, such as that felt when a plane lands, as the air in the chamber is compressed.
Patients may also have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials and multi-center studies. Rapides Wound Healing Center may also collaborate with expert pathologists at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in Florida to gain a rapid diagnosis and begin an effective treatment of challenging cases.
For more information on Rapides Wound Healing Center, call (318) 769-4500.