Wound Care Awareness Week
The Wound and Hyperbaric Center (W&HC) at Boone County Hospital (BCH), a member of the Healogics network, is helping raise awareness of chronic wounds. The third annual Wound Care Awareness Week is being held June 6th to the 10th. One of nearly 800 Healogics-managed Centers, the BCH W&HC offers advanced therapies to patients suffering from chronic wounds.
In addition, the staff in the W&HC would like to welcome Dr. Scott Thiel to the center as their new Medical Director. Dr. Thiel replaces Dr. Richard Unger who left to pursue other opportunities. “Dr. Thiel is playing an important role in the care of our patients,” says Lesa Maring, BCH W&HC Director. “We are happy to have him on our team.”
It is estimated that chronic wounds affect 6.7 million people in the U.S. and the incidence is rising, fueled by an aging population and increasing rates of diseases and conditions such as diabetes, obesity and the late effects of radiation therapy. If left untreated, chronic wounds can lead to diminished quality of life and possibly amputation of the affected limb.
“We see patients living with non-healing wounds for a prolonged amount of time due to the lack of awareness of advanced wound care options,” says Maring. “We work to educate community physicians about which of their patients can benefit from advanced wound care, and then provide coordinated care to heal that patient’s wounds.”
People with wounds that have not improved with traditional methods of treatment may benefit from a visit to BCH. Visit woundcareawareness.com to learn more about Wound Care Awareness Week and to hear from patients about how wound healing changed their life. To schedule an appointment at the BCH W&HC, please call (515) 433-8740 or visit www.boonehospital.com. No referral is needed!
Wound and Hyperbaric Center staff, seated left to right: Melinda Altman, Lesa Maring, Dr. Scott Thiel, Tara Loecker, Alison Good; back row: Jayme Stoneburner, Jennifer Glauner, Amber Roberts, Jennifer Ritchie, Myriah Sharp, Justine Steiner