Jesup, GA –Fronting Highway 84 and tucked away in the left corner of Jesup’s Wayne Memorial Hospital campus, lies a little bit of history. Yet what occurs inside this stand-alone building that houses that bit of history is anything but historical. The outpatient rehabilitation building, which contains the physical therapy, medication management and wound care areas, was once the “newer” portion of the “old hospital” that held the labor and delivery unit. When the “new” hospital was built in 2007, this portion of the building was saved and repurposed for outpatient therapies.
As the wound care department conducts approximately 60 appointments a week (and not all of those patients hail from the Jesup area), the employees typically see chronic wounds, diabetic foot ulcers, lacerations, large skin tears, minor burns, pressure ulcers and perform wound vac dressing changes. Clare McCarn, RN, WCC, shares, “Sometimes a patient comes to us with an issue he or she has been dealing with for a long time, not realizing there may be a path to quicker healing through proper wound care.” Dr. Howard Bowers, General Surgeon, adds, “The basic principles of wound care and post-surgical care from an incision are essentially the same. Adequate blood flow and good nutrition add to that healing.” One particular goal that Dr. Bowers has regarding chronic wounds is “to optimize a patient’s condition so that we can get chronic non-healing wounds to heal.” The treatment plan may include improving blood flow or wound debridement in the Operating Room. One such tool in the emerging wound care market that has been procured for the hospital’s Operating Room is a Versajet, a hydrodebridement tool, which irrigates and cleans a wound. As Dr. Bowers explains, “Debridement speeds up the process of growing new and healthy tissue.” Bowers estimates he has used the Versajet in hundreds of cases during his career.
Appointments are made at the wound care clinic by physician referral, with patients working through their primary care provider to do so. The clinic is open five days a week, Monday through Thursday (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Friday (8 a.m. to 12 p.m.). McCarn’s 20 years of experience working in wound care, 18 of those as Wound Care Certified, plus another Licensed Practical Nurse Melissa Cartrette’s 10 years of experience added to Dr. Bower’s 15 years of experience total 45 years’ experience in wound care.
Wayne Memorial Hospital, whose mission is to provide high quality health care services to all patients, built a state-of-the-art facility in 2007. It is the third largest employer in Wayne County with 500 employees, 84 beds and is a three-time winner of the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals Small Hospital of the Year Award.
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