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Discover the healing possibilities

UnityPoint Health – Trinity Wound Healing Center has once again been recognized as a top performer amongst the nation’s wound centers. Having achieved high marks in the categories of patient satisfaction, percentage of patients healed and the average number of days to heal, the Trinity Wound Healing Center was awarded the Center of Excellence and Center of Distinction awards for a fourth consecutive year. This recognition is a great honor as it is only shared by less than the top 10 percent of wound centers in the nation.

The Trinity Wound Healing Center is located at UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge. At the Trinity Wound Healing Center patients experience care from a diverse panel of physicians with a variety specialties, but all with one common thread of extensive wound care training. Each patient is evaluated through a proprietary process which has been proven to produce better outcomes in a timely manner. This process allows patients to heal faster and get back to their lives sooner.

In addition to being a nationally recognized center, the benefit to the local community is ever expanding with locations to receive wound care now in Webster City and Sac City. By bringing these services to surrounding communities the Trinity Wound Healing Center is improving accessibility to care, resulting in helping to keep the surrounding areas healthier.

A large factor which contributes the overall health of our surrounding area is diabetes. Oftentimes individuals with diabetes experience neuropathy in their extremities. This neuropathy frequently leads to wounds that are increasingly difficult to heal given the lack of pain which helps an individual notice the wound. The wound area is often compromised by blood sugar levels and the mobility of these patients which tends to be limited and can result in further injury of the wound sight. At Trinity Wound Healing Center, patients with diabetes are evaluated for all of these limiting factors to healing, and as a result often see improved healing times due to the comprehensive nature of the center’s treatment.

Although diabetes is just one of the contributing factors for chronic wounds, it is one of the most common and frequently overlooked. A diabetic foot ulcer can be found anywhere on the foot, but often form on the toes, the heel, or the ball of the foot. These diabetic foot ulcers are one of the most common complications in people with diabetes and more than half of all foot ulcers will become infected, requiring hospitalization. One in five of these ulcers will require an amputation. Such statistics help to highlight the importance of early intervention when it comes to wound care. These wounds can escalate in severity very quickly; therefore should be evaluated immediately.

One therapy that can be used for the treatment of certain diabetic ulcers is the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. This process creates a hyper-oxygenated environment, which places the patient under a pressure similar to scuba diving. By “diving” in this type of an environment, patients increase their bodies ability to produce tissue and as a result, certain patients can experience healing that otherwise might not have been possible. This is just one of the advanced treatment options offered at Trinity Wound Healing Center and though it isn’t appropriate for everyone, it can have incredible results for some and potentially save a limb.

In addition to patients with diabetic wounds, the Trinity Wound Healing Center provides services to any patient with a chronic wound. A chronic wound is defined as a wound that has not shown improvement within 30 days of the initial wound event. This includes, but is not limited to pressure ulcers, traumas, radiation injury, arterial wounds, venous ulcers, skin tears, burns and post-surgical incisions. No two wounds are identical and the extensive experience of the physicians and staff at Trinity Wound Healing Center is what drives the program that has led to such exemplary care.

If you or someone you know have a chronic wound or are frustrated by the progress of your wound’s healing, the Trinity Wound Healing Center is open Monday through Friday. You don’t need a doctor’s referral to visit the clinic. Simply call the center to schedule an appointment.

In Fort Dodge, the Trinity Wound Center can be reached at 574-6068. The number in Webster City is (515) 832-9960. In Sac City call (712) 662-6379.

KC Coleman, a CE specialist, is affiliate with the Trinity Wound Healing Center.

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