EvergreenHealth pumps oxygen for healing effects

Time may not actually be able to heal all wounds.

An estimated 6.7 million people reported having a wound that wouldn’t get better last year, according to EvergreenHealth. Hyperbarics medicine, or oxygen therapy, is one way professionals treat those chronic ailments.

“It’s a tremendous benefit to the party going through the therapies,” said Dr. Jonathan C Borjeson, medical director for EvergreenHealth Monroe’s Wound Care and Hyperbarics Center.

The local facility opened nearly a decade ago. The work done by staff has been recognized nationally for the services provided and their impact to patients for the past three years, according to an EvergreenHealth news release.

Healogics, which calls itself “the nation’s largest provider of advanced wound care services,” has awarded the Robert A. Warriner III Center of Excellence distinction to centers with more than 92 percent of patients reporting a good experience, and 91 percent of cases healed “in less than 30 median days.” About a third of the centers in Healogics network received the honor.

“This level of care and service exemplifies the commitment of our providers, staff and volunteers to deliver an exceptional experience within every aspect of care and we’re so proud to earn this accomplishment, now for the third year in a row,” said EvergreenHealth Monroe Chief Administrative Officer Renée Jensen in the release.

Borjeson said the center has multiple hyperbarics chambers patients can use, as well as other treatments. Having multiple options is part of a comprehensive approach to working with wounds, he said.

Hyperbarics safety director Kayla King said many people don’t know that the wound center is there or what treatments are available. She said she hopes more people become aware of the opportunities and can advocate for their needs when they experience a chronic wound. 

Borjeson said it is important patients come in sooner than later. Once a wound has progressed too far, or tissue has died, there isn’t much that can be done, he said.

Every year about 80,000 adults with diabetes will have a lower extremity amputated, according to Healogics. The disease affects about 9.3 percent of Americans, or about 29.1 million people. Rates are even higher, about 26 percent, for Americans over 65 years old. 

“The incidence of chronic wounds, especially foot ulcers, increases among those diagnosed with diabetes,” according to Healogics. “Patients with diabetes are 10 times more likely to require amputation at some point in their lives.”

More and more people around the country are experiencing all kinds of chronic wounds, according to Healogics. More than 2 million people will have a venous ulcer, which the Mayo Clinic states are caused by malfunctioning veins. Weight, age and diabetes contribute to the numbers.

Hyperbarics therapy is effective because it pumps more oxygen into the body and to damaged tissues, which need even more of the gas when trying to heal, according to the Mayo Clinic. Patients are inhaling between two to three times as much oxygen in the chambers as they normally would.

The procedure can address burns, decompression sickness, gangrene and carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Mayo Clinic. King said often patients will come in for help with radiation injuries, ulcers, or to get help promoting the success of skin grafts or flaps.

Someone coming in for a wound that won’t heal will need to undergo between 30-60 two-hour sessions in one of the facility’s two hyperbaric chambers on average, King said. She sits and monitors progress for the duration.

Safety is a major focus during the procedure, King said. The higher concentration of oxygen is very flammable. The worst part for patients, though, is the potential for claustrophobia.

Almost all go through the process without any problems, she said. If someone feels they need to get out early, it takes about 10 minutes to bring them safely out of the chamber. Usually they are incredibly grateful for the outcome, she said.

“They just want to be healed, and they just want to be helped,” King said.