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BMC Wound Center Named Center of the Year by National Organization02:50PM / Thursday, March 24, 2011
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Center for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine at Berkshire Medical Center has been named Center of the Year by Diversified Clinical Services. Diversified is the largest wound care company in the United States, managing more than 350 centers. According to Diversified, the BMC Center was chosen as 2010 Center of the Year in recognition of it’s heal rates, days to heal, medical leadership and overall clinical accomplishments.
“This is an outstanding achievement, and is the result of a commitment to the highest level of quality by the center’s staff and Dr. Richard Basile, the medical director,” said Diane Kelly, a registered nurse and chief operating officer. “This honor reflects excellent care with measurable results, including among the highest heal rates and lowest days to heal rates of wound centers across the country. The patients we serve throughout the region for chronic, non-healing wounds are receiving the best of care, right here at home.”
The BMC center has a 94 percent average heal rate in 28-median days to heal, compared to an average heal rate of 88 percent and 31-median days to heal at Diversified’s other centers across the U.S.
The BMC center uses advanced wound care therapy, including state-of-the-art Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, bio engineered skin grafting, negative pressure wound therapy, and debridement (the medical removal of dead, damaged or infected tissue to improve healing potential). The center has an interdisciplinary model of care, featuring infectious-disease management, physical therapy, occupational therapy, laboratory evaluation, nutritional management, pain management, diabetic education, radiology testing, and plastic and orthopedic surgery consultations. The physician panel is led by Dr. Richard Basile, a certified wound care specialist. The nursing care is led by nurse Audrey Ferguson and her staff of wound-certified nurses.
During the past 5 years, the Wound Center at BMC has successfully treated more than 4,000 patients with wounds. The patients’ non-healing wounds that have been helped at the center include: diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers, arterial insufficiency ulcers, compromised skin flaps/ skin grafts, and delayed healing due to radiation treatments.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been used to treat more than 275 patients at BMC Wound Center. The BMC HBOT team is led by two Certified Hyperbaric Technicians. HBOT is an adjunctive treatment used at the BMC Center to help speed the process of healing difficult wounds. It has been helpful in salvaging limbs that may otherwise have to be amputated due to the effects of diabetes and arterial insufficiency.
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