Award-Winning Wound Center Keeps Patients Healthier, Avoiding Unnecessary Hospital Admission

PARMA, Ohio – Not all patients are admitted to the hospital for heart attacks, strokes, hip replacement surgery or pneumonia. Sometimes chronic, non-healing wounds, and related side effects such as infection, are the cause. At University Hospitals Parma Medical Center, the Wound & Hyperbaric Medicine Center is helping prevent patients from being admitted to the hospital for conditions that can be treated by specialists on an outpatient basis.

National statistics show that patients with untreated wounds are 20 times more likely to end up in the Emergency Department or be admitted to the hospital. But that is not the case at UH Parma, where specialists can see patients quickly for a wide array of conditions: vascular surgeons treating venous ulcers and consulting on procedures to improve circulation and expedite healing; podiatrists treating diabetic foot ulcers; infectious disease physicians providing long-term antibiotics for bone infections; and a plastic surgery-trained nurse practitioner tending to dog bites, minor burns and non-healing surgical wounds.

UH Parma’s Wound & Hyperbaric Medicine Center has been recognized with a Center of Distinction award by Healogics^®, the nation’s largest provider of advanced wound care services. The award signifies outstanding clinical outcomes and exceptionally high patient satisfaction.

“The Wound Center is truly an awesome service to have on our UH Parma campus,” said Chief Medical Officer Chris Dussel, MD, an ED physician who sees a regular flow of referrals to the Wound Center. “They provide timely and consistent follow-up, often seeing our patients the very next day. They are fantastic at expediting consults. If we put in a referral at night, they typically schedule the patient as soon as the office opens.”

The Wound Center at UH Parma has a decade-long record of keeping patients out of the hospital. Specialists that see patients in the accessible ground-floor suite in Medical Arts Center 2 adjacent to the hospital include plastic surgery, infectious disease, vascular surgery, podiatric surgery, family medicine and general surgery.

The Center also features two pressurized hyperbaric oxygen chambers that deliver 100 percent oxygen to wounds that have not responded to traditional treatments. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is approved by Medicare and most insurance companies for many types of chronic, non-healing wounds, including diabetic wounds of the legs and feet, soft tissue and osteoradionecrosis caused by radiation therapy, bone infections that fail to heal from antibiotics, and other indications.

“Patients with wounds are complex and already compromised, with many being treated for multiple comorbidities,” said Program Director Julianne Bauer. “We prioritize patient access and see all referrals within 24-48 hours of request. Time is tissue. The sooner you treat a wound, the better the outcome.

“This award formally recognizes the UH Parma Wound & Hyperbaric Medicine Center’s dedication to our patients, the providers who refer to us, and the greater Parma community.”

A referral is not required to be seen by the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center. To schedule an appointment with a specialist, call 440-743-4774.