The Wound Care Center at Nash Health Care recently earned the Robert A. Warriner III, M.D., Center of Excellence award, which recognizes the center for outstanding quality standards over the past two years. The Center was awarded this prestigious honor by Diversified Clinical Services (DCS), Inc., the nation’s leading wound care management company.

To be named a Center of Excellence, the Nash Wound Care Center demonstrated patient satisfaction rates over 90 percent, an 89 percent healing rate within thirty days, and other quality standards.

“We’re honored, “ said Sterling Grimes, program director of the Nash Wound Care Center. “It’s a privilege to be part of such a wonderful health care team. Together, we are able to heal patients in our community with our hyperbaric oxygen therapy, getting them get back to living happy, healthy lives.”

The Nash Wound Care Center, opened in 2007, treated more than 550 patients last year. The Nash Wound Care Center is an outpatient program that works in conjunction with the patient’s primary care physician. The specially trained staff at the Nash Wound Care Center is dedicated to providing comprehensive treatment using the most technologically advanced wound care therapy, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a simple but effective treatment in which patients breathe pure oxygen inside a pressurized chamber. The therapy quickly delivers high concentrations of oxygen to the bloodstream which helps increase the body’s own natural wound-healing abilities.

Larry Chewning, president and CEO of Nash Health Care said, “We are thrilled to be able to offer this quality center to our community. It is the responsibility of a community health care system to meet the needs of area citizens by providing compassionate, superior quality health care. Winning this accolade is an honor and a testimony to the dedication and excellence of our employees.”

When a wound fails to heal, serious complications can occur. The wound area may be at risk of gangrene, which could ultimately lead to amputation. Gangrene is a condition where skin tissue has died due to poor circulation. Problem wounds are much more common among those with diabetes and heart disease, as well as any condition that affects circulation and inhibits the skin’s ability to heal itself. In fact, approximately 18.5 million Americans have diabetes, and of that population, about 1.8 million will suffer from a problem wound.

Problem wounds are also more prevalent among the elderly, the obese, and those of African-American or Hispanic ethnicity. In addition, one in four African-Americans over 65 are diabetic.

Around 20 percent of Hispanics over age 20 are diabetic.

For more information on the Nash Wound Care Center, please visit www.nhcs.org.

About Nash Health Care: Nash Health Care is a nonprofit hospital authority comprised of five licensed hospitals totaling 403 beds: Nash General Hospital, Nash Day Hospital, the Bryant T. Aldridge Rehabilitation Center, Community Hospital and Coastal Plain Hospital.

About Diversified Clinical Services: Diversified Clinical Services (DCS), located in Jacksonville, Fla, is the world’s largest wound care management company with over 325 hospital partners delivering excellent evidence-based care to patients with chronic wounds.