Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System - 52
52
SPOTLIGHT: St. Catherine Hospital
Heal a Wound,
Ring the Bell
OUTPATIENT CLINIC HELPS PATIENTS
WITH STUBBORN SKIN INJURIES
BY DEBRA GRUSZECKI
St. Catherine Hospital's
Wound & Ostomy Clinic
encourages patients to
ring a bell when their wounds heal.
For Kevin Kinnard, that exciting
moment couldn't have seemed further away in September, when he
watched as wound care specialists
removed bandages above his left
ankle in the outpatient clinic.
Five months earlier, he and his
wife, Marla, looked on in horror as a
blemish became an open wound. It
soon tripled in size and led to hospitalization, home healthcare with
IV-infused antibiotics and a potential amputation.
"I could barely walk," Kinnard
recalled as podiatrist John Rachoy,
DPM, examined results of the
first Apligraf® cellular skin graft
he applied to a hockey puck-sized
venous ulcer in the hospital's Wound
& Ostomy outpatient clinic. Apligraf
SPRING 2020 VIM & VIGOR
is made out of living cells and proteins to replicate human skin.
The wound was nearly closed
with a thin layer of skin. Rachoy
explained that the pink edges
around the perimeter were a good
thing; it meant there was blood flow
to the wound.
"It's a blessing," Kinnard says,
admitting that he had no idea how
serious the wound was until his primary doctor asked if he wanted to
keep his foot. "The entire staff has
been terrific. We are so grateful."
Fixing What's Broken
When healthy skin gets wounded
or damaged, the proteins, cells
and growth factors in the skin tell
the body to regrow and rebuild
new skin. This is the normal
wound-healing process.
However, with certain diseases
such as diabetes or circulation
issues, the healing cycle sometimes
breaks down. This can result in a
sore or ulcer that will not heal.
St. Catherine Hospital wound and
foot care certified registered nurse
Suzanne Wirtz says patients who
receive these unique, layered skin
grafts for their wounds tend to have
better outcomes.
"Their wounds heal quicker
and their quality of life improves,"
Wirtz says.
Community Hospital, Munster,
has offered this type of skin graft to
patients since 2016. The procedure
has been offered at
St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart
since 2018. Rachoy introduced the
skin graft application to patients at
St. Catherine Hospital in 2019.
"It's not new to our facility, but
it is very important to us because
of the high population of diabetic
patients who are seen in Northwest
Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System
Contents
Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System - Cover1
Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System - Cover2
Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System - Contents
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Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System - Cover3
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