UHMS Accredits Hyperbaric Medicine at McKay-Dee Hospital Center in Ogden, Utah

The Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center at McKay-Dee Hospital Center in Ogden, Utah, has received accreditation from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). The hospital-based facility is part of the Intermountain Healthcare system. Learn more about facility accreditation in our UHMS profile and on the UHMS website.

[Photo: McKay-Dee Hospital Center website]

UHMS Accredits Hyperbaric Medicine at Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Jordan, Utah

The Hyperbaric and Wound Care Center at Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Jordan, Utah, has received accreditation from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). The 4,500-square-foot outpatient medical facility opened in 2010. Learn more about facility accreditation in our UHMS profile and on the UHMS website.

[Photo: Jordan Valley Medical Center website]

Northwest Ohio Treatment Center Gets Its Due

We are pleased to report the Toledo Blade today has made up for overlooking an independent Northwest Ohio treatment center with two multiplace chambers. See our February 24 post, "Sara's Garden: Two Multiplace Hyperbaric Chambers in Northwest Ohio Before UTMC Toledo." In today's story, "Wauseon nonprofit delivers hyperbaric treatment," we learn more about the family origins and impressive commitment of Sara's Garden. And the more we learn the more we understand how the mindful practice of evidence-based hyperbaric medicine varies all across our community.

[Photo: Lori King, Toledo Blade]

UHMS Accredits Hyperbaric Medicine at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Maryland

Peninsula Wound and Hyperbaric Center at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Maryland, has received accreditation from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). The hospital-based center opened in 2005 and is network-managed by Diversified Clinical Services (DCS). Read the announcement in The Dispatch Ocean City news and on the Peninsula website. Learn more about facility accreditation in our UHMS profile and on the UHMS website.

[Photo: Peninsula Regional Medical Center website]

UHMS Accredits Hyperbaric Medicine at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in Spartanburg, South Carolina

The Wound Healing Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina, has received accreditation from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). The outpatient medical facility operates three monoplace hyperbaric chambers and is part of the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. We like this one-minute video from the Spartanburg website. Learn more about facility accreditation in our UHMS profile and on the UHMS website.


[Video: Spartanburg Regional website]

UHMS Accredits Hyperbaric Medicine at CentraState Healthcare System in Freehold, New Jersey

Central Jersey Wound Treatment Center in Freehold, New Jersey, has received accreditation from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). The outpatient treatment center operates two monoplace hyperbaric chambers and is part of the CentraState Healthcare System. Learn more about facility accreditation in our UHMS profile and on the UHMS website.

[Photo: CentraState website]

UHMS Reaccreditation with Distinction: CoxHealth Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care Center, Springfield, Missouri

CoxHealth Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care Center in Springfield, Missouri, has earned a three-year Facility Reaccreditation with Distinction from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). In yesterday's news release, program medical director Larry K. Chase, MD, said:

I am proud of the staff's commitment to excellence that led to our reaccreditation with distinction by the UHMS. This accomplishment was made possible by their desire to be the region's leader in hyperbaric services and to embrace CoxHealth's vision of being the best for those who need us.

Our congratulations and best wishes to Dr Chase and team. And let this serve as yet another friendly reminder that:

• It's as easy as 3-2-1 to list your treatment center or change your profile in the HyperbaricLink directory. 
• UHMS accredited facilities enjoy special pricing. Standard profile: $0/year. ProfilePlus: $400/year. 

Your participation helps provide patients and referring physicians with an independent, trustworthy guide to evidence-based hyperbaric oxygen therapy and the people and facilities providing it.

[Photo: CoxHealth website]

Your Video Introduction: A Major Plus with ProfilePlus

What better way to get to know your local hyperbaric oxygen treatment center than to watch its medical director speaking directly to you? Here plastic surgeon Dr Craig Reynolds gives viewers a personal introduction to his Wound Care Center at St Anthony North Hospital in Westminster, a suburb of Denver, Colorado. It's a great little video. A Centura Health facility, with wound care managed by Diversified Clinical Services, St Anthony is smart to post this content on YouTube and on its own web page.



Another place for a center to get some extra oomph out of multimedia is a ProfilePlus on HyperbaricLink. Check out this live example from a center not so very far away.

What's the deal? How can you get started? It's as easy as 3-2-1.

Limb Salvage Testimonial: Genesis Wound and Hyperbaric Institute in Davenport, Iowa

Genesis Wound and Hyperbaric Institute in Davenport, Iowa, has published an uplifting patient testimonial worth sharing. It's a story of clinical excellence, yes, but also a reminder of how much emotional and physical endurance chronic wounds and especially diabetic ulcers may require of patient and physician alike.

A small abrasion on Jim Keenan's heel developed into an infected wound that exposed his Achilles tendon. Keenan, who has Type 2 diabetes and vascular problems in his legs, received specialized dressings, bioengineered grafts, and vascular surgery in addition to 40 hyperbaric oxygen treatments. Healing required almost two full years. About his experience in the chamber Keenan recalls:

I gained substantial, measurable improvement in the flow of oxygen to my feet and the hyperbaric treatment contributed significantly to my healing. I also got a two-hour nap in every day, which is a habit I would have cheerfully continued.

Dr Brad DeWall adds:

At Genesis, we consider amputation to be a "treatment failure" not a "treatment option." Our goal is to save the extremity.

So he and the Genesis nurses did. And it's a story happening every day at advanced wound care and hyperbaric medicine centers from coast to coast. Let's see that more people read all about it.

World Kidney Day: Hyperbaric Oxygen's Small But Vital Role in the Treatment of Kidney Disease

Happy World Kidney Day. How does hyperbaric oxygen figure in today's celebration and in the treatment of kidney disease? Scanning our own list of diseases and conditions we go straight to diabetic ulcers. Diabetes and obesity figure prominently in this formidable threat to the public health. We've written here and here about how hyperbaric oxygen therapy combined with dialysis helps spare kidneys in cases of crush injury, a signature wound of major earthquakes. And hyperbaric oxygen therapy in kidney disease and organ preservation has long been an active area of clinical research. A quick search of PubMed shows 353 studies since 1964. The Rubicon Research Repository contains 45 entries on the topic. The following video offers wise words of prevention and daily habits to maintain the health of your kidneys. Suddenly we're thirsty.



Correction 12:08AM 9 Mar 2012 to Rubicon search query link and results. Thanks to Gene Hobbs. - rem

Decompression Sickness: "Diving Without Water"

In postscript to yesterday's plug for the Divers Alert Network (DAN) webinar, we ran across a delightful item in the Phuket Gazette. (Let's be careful with that pronunciation.) It's a refreshingly different answer to the question, What's it like to take a dive in a hyperbaric chamber? Hats off to Isaac Stone Simonelli for this charming slice of life. Bonus: Another keen photo of the "Steel Ball Hospital" or "Hyperbaric Hotel" built in 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio, and scrapped for metal in World War II.

[Photo: Cleveland State University]

Divers Alert Network Free Webinar Tonight: "Demystifying HBO Treatment for Divers"

Tonight, Tuesday 6 March, at 8 o'clock EDT, the Divers Alert Network (DAN) and Broadway Divers (New York) are hosting a webinar on hyperbaric oxygen treatment for decompression sickness (DCS), or the bends. DAN medic Marty McCafferty will present “Demystifying HBO Treatment for Divers.” The online session is free and open to the public, though limited spots are available. Register and get more information about upcoming events on the DAN website.

Open House: New Wound Care Location for Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, Massachusetts

This Wednesday, as advertised, the expanded Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine at Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, will reopen at a new location. From the press release:

The Center for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine at BMC has treated more than 3,500 patients and has a heal rate of 96 percent, which is significantly higher than the national average. In 2011, BMC's center was named a Center of the Year by Diversified Clinical Services, the national leader in outpatient wound care management.

The center will soon be joined by another at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington. More at iBerkshires.com.

[Photo: Berkshire Health Systems website]

New on HyperbaricLink: American Board of Wound Healing (ABWH)

Today we have published a profile of the American Board of Wound Healing (ABWH), the certifying body endorsed just last month by the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (ACHM). From the ABWH website:

The American Board of Wound Healing (ABWH) provides a pathway for certification to wound care and hyperbaric practitioners who meet established educational, professional, clinical and examination standards. ABWH certification is available to a variety of clinicians, including physicians, nurses, technicians and other allied health professionals. Successful completion of an ABWH examination is recognized by a Certification of Added Qualification. The ABWH is not a membership association.

In particular, the ABWH offers exams for Physician Certification in Hyperbaric Medicine, Physician Certification in Wound Care, and Certified Hyperbaric and Wound Specialist (CHWS).

The ABWH will offer all three exams at the APWCA National Clinical Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday 1 April 2012.

Roundup: New Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Centers

In February we discovered a number of wound care centers that made the news but have not yet made our hyperbaric treatment center directory.

• Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center (Providence Regional Medical Center, Everett, Washington). More, including video, at King5.com Seattle.
• Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine (Beverly Hospital, Montebello, California).
• Outpatient Wound Care Clinic (Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton, California). Video story at Contra Costa Times.
• H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation Hyperbaric Oxygen Center (Methodist Hospital, Arcadia, California). More in the Pasadena Star-News.
• Strong Wound Healing Center (Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York). More at HealthCanal.com.
• Advanced Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Center (Regional Medical Center, Orangeburg, South Carolina).
• Center for Advanced Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine (Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York).

ATTENTION Treatment Centers! Learn more about how and why to list your center with HyperbaricLink. It's as easy as 3-2-1.

[Photo: Wyckoff Heights Medical Center website]