Wound Care Award

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO (May 23, 2017) – One of the cornerstones of the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Program at Mercy Health’s St. Joseph Warren Hospital is a relentless focus on the importance of wound care to a patient’s overall health. That focus, coupled with a commitment to improving access to wound care and consistently delivering successful outcomes, has earned the program national recognition.

Healogics, the nation’s leading and largest wound care management company, has recognized the program with its Center of Distinction Award. The award, which the St. Joseph Warren Hospital program also earned in 2010 and 2013, distinguishes clinical excellence in wound care. Leaders, physicians and clinicians from the hospital will gather this Wednesday, May 24, at 10 a.m. to accept the award and celebrate the achievement.

“The skin is our largest organ, and wound care is integral to keeping the skin healthy,” said Daniel Fitzpatrick, D.O., medical director of St. Joseph Warren Hospital Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine. “The importance of effective wound care cannot be overstated. Wounds involved with complex patient cases and those that are poorly managed can lead to the development of a chronic wound, as well as other health issues. At Mercy Health - Youngstown, we operate from a team-based approach to put the patients’ needs first, promote normal healing and prevent complications.”

The Wound Care Center, which relocated to a newly remolded space within St. Joseph Warren Hospital in 2016, offers highly specialized wound care to patients suffering from diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers, infections and other chronic wounds that have not responded to other care or treatment. Among the leading-edge treatments offered at the center are negative pressure wound therapy, debridement, application of cellular-based tissue or skin substitutes to the wound, offloading or total contact casts and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

St. Joseph’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine earned the Healogics recognition by achieving outstanding clinical outcomes for 12 consecutive months, including:

• A patient satisfaction score of 92.6, exceeding the criteria of greater than or equal to 92 percent
• A wound healing rate of 92.6, exceeding the criteria of a heal rate of greater than or equal to 91 percent
• Median days to heal of 28 days, exceeding the criteria of less than or equal to 30 days

“Our entire team, from the physicians and nurses to the office staff, are honored to receive this recognition,” said Charlene Carabbia, program director, Wound Care Center. “This award acknowledges the hard work, dedication and accomplishments of our staff to deliver care, treatment and services in a manner that exceeds the performance of other similar centers. Winning this award reinforces for our patients that they are receiving the highest quality of care, right here in their community.”

 About Mercy Health

Mercy Health - Youngstown is an integrated health system in the Mahoning Valley, which encompasses the Youngstown/Warren metropolitan area – Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio. It is part of Mercy Health, which is headquartered in Cincinnati and is the largest health system in Ohio and one of the largest Catholic health systems in the United States. Mercy Health - Youngstown provides a full spectrum of healthcare services – acute inpatient and trauma, outpatient and ambulatory, rehabilitation, behavioral, emergency and urgent care, primary care physicians in patient-centered medical homes, specialist physician care, home health, home medical equipment, long-term care and hospice care, as well as Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley. Learn more at www.mercy.com/Youngstown.