WoundCentrics Offers Continuing Education on the Topic of Covid-19 and Wound Care

News Release: For Immediate Release

Dr. Marcus Gitterle, Chief Medical Officer for WoundCentrics of New Braunfels, Texas, provided a lecture to the National Association of Long-Term Hospitals (NALTH) membership on the topic of Covid 19 and the impact on wound care in November 2020.

The 50-minute video presentation offers an in-depth review of the implication and changes in wound care being provided to patients that have tested positive with Covid 19. The unique challenges that nursing and clinical staff are managing during the on-going pandemic has yielded new information on how to manage Covid 19 patients that present or develop wounds during and after hospitalization. Dr. Gitterle presents several important pearls of wisdom to educate wound care providers from the lessons learned from treating thousands of patients with Covid 19 in multiple states in all types of facilities.

The Covid 19 and Wound Care lecture is very informative and educational for all clinical personnel that are treating and exposed to Covid 19 patients.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to our health systems, including wound care. What is encouraging is that we have already identified valuable best-practices that can prevent complications in these patients while supporting and protecting caregivers,” explained Dr. Marcus Gitterle, Chief Medical Officer for WoundCentrics. “ Our goal is to share these lessons learned and valuable pearls of wisdom with other providers during this pandemic,” Gitterle said.

The Continuing Education presentation is available on the WoundCentrics website under the topic of Continuing Education / CNE. After viewing the educational Covid 19 and Wound Care video presentation, a quiz and form is available to complete and receive your 1.0 Hours of CNE credit and the CNE Certificate.

To learn more about WoundCentrics as a company and its educational offerings visit www.woundcentrics.com/ceu

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WoundCentrics Expands Inpatient Wound Care Services to Cornerstone Hospitals in Oklahoma

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WoundCentrics has announced that it has expanded its services to Dallas-based Cornerstone Healthcare Group. WoundCentrics is now providing its specialized wound care services to Cornerstone Specialty Hospital Broken Arrow and Cornerstone Specialty Hospital Muskogee. With more than 60 combined long term acute care beds, Cornerstone's two Tulsa area locations serve a medically complex patient population, including complex wounds, for which WoundCentrics has proven success in achieving improved outcomes.

WoundCentrics initially began providing wound services for Cornerstone Healthcare Group in Texas and Louisiana in 2017 and started services in Oklahoma in December 2020. 

“We are pleased to expand our wound care services to Cornerstone Hospitals in Broken Arrow and Muskogee,” stated Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer for WoundCentrics.  “We have proven track record of success with Cornerstone Hospitals in Texas and Louisiana and excited about expanding our relationship to the Oklahoma hospitals and with Cornerstone and as a company,” Oertli explained.

WoundCentrics is located in New Braunfels, Texas and operates in 11 states with nearly 60 employed physicians and APPs servicing acute and post acute facilities and wound centers.  To learn more about WoundCentrics visit www.woundcentrics.com

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In Service to Our Neighbors

The season of giving has arrived. Spending time helping at local shelters or food banks provides an important service to our neighbors. Our New Braunfels corporate office made the commitment to provide for those in need this Thanksgiving. Our team members from the WoundCentrics corporate office made a call to the New Braunfels Food Bank and the list of items needed was quickly filled. It was important to provide non-perishable items for families in need and pop-top canned items for the homeless population. From soups to chili, tuna and cereal, rice and beans, each of these items will be distributed to individuals and families in need this season and within our community. 

Giving back to our community brings people together, and together our corporate office provided service in action and kindness. The donation made its way to the New Braunfels Food Bank two days before Thanksgiving, weighing in at 100 pounds of food. Our plan for Thanksgiving 2021 is to expand our collection efforts to both our corporate offices located in Lubbock and New Braunfels, Texas, and at our clinic and hospital locations in 12 states to help benefit those in need in each of the local communities we serve. 

WoundCentrics provides aligned wound care across the continuum of care that produces efficient, cost-effective care and exceptional patient outcomes. We, at WoundCentrics are not only committed to our patients and their healing, but we are also committed to providing for our local communities, building a strong reputation within the community, and participating in charitable initiatives. This month WoundCentrics also sponsored the Texas Tech Alumni Association San Antonio Chapter Golf Tournament as a hole sponsor. Our efforts to support our community will help provide for those in need through in-kind donations and to provide for those in need of financial assistance through educational scholarships. We, at WoundCentrics, are grateful for our patients and families who trust us to provide high quality care. And we are grateful for our partners and team members who work tirelessly to care for those we serve. From our WoundCentrics family to yours – Happy Thanksgiving!

Interested in making a donation to the New Braunfels Food Bank, visit https://nbfoodbank.org/ or call 830-327-6000.

WoundCentrics corporate associates donate 100 pounds of food to the New Braunfels Food Bank. Pictured from left to right: Stuart Oertli, Stacie Huggins, Samantha Stahl, David Jones, Dr. Marcus Gitterle, Brandye West, and Emily Santana.

WoundCentrics is a sponsor for Texas Tech Alumni Association - San Antonio Chapter golf tournament. Pictured left to right: Stuart Oertli, Tim Vernon, and Christina Chapman.

UVA Transitional Hospital Enters an Agreement with WoundCentrics

Press Release: For Immediate Release

University of Virginia Health System and University Physician Group partners with WoundCentrics to provide advanced wound care services.

The University of Virginia Health System (UVA Health) and University Physician Group have engaged WoundCentrics of New Braunfels, Texas to implement and oversee an advanced wound care program for its Transitional Care Hospital (TCH) in Charlottesville, Virginia. TCH is a Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) serving medically complex patients with an average length of stay of 25 days or greater.

WoundCentrics offers an inpatient wound care program designed for LTACHs that coordinates care with the high acuity patients that the Hospital manages. WoundCentrics will begin to provide services later this year.

“We are very excited to partner with an academic institution like UVA Health and the experienced administrative and clinical team at UVA Transitional Care Hospital,” stated Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer at WoundCentrics. “This unique partnership will allow us to train UPGs designated wound care provider(s) through our Wound Care University and allow UVA, UPG, and TCH to develop care pathways across the continuum of care.”

WoundCentrics is a full-service wound care management and services company that has been operating since 2008 and currently operates in 12 states and more than 50 facilities including acute care, hospital outpatient departments, long-term acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, skilled nursing, and free-standing clinics. For more information on WoundCentrics visit the website at www.woundcentrics.com.

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WoundCentrics to provide Inpatient Wound Care Services at Central Texas Rehabilitation Hospital

Press Release:  For Immediate Release

WoundCentrics, a specialized wound care services company based in New Braunfels, Texas, announced that it began providing inpatient wound care to the rehabilitation patients at Central Texas Rehabilitation Hospital in Austin, Texas on September 1, 2020.

Central Texas Rehabilitation Hospital is an Ascension Seton Healthcare facility in partnership with Kindred Healthcare of Louisville, Kentucky.  The Hospital offers stroke, neurological, orthopedic, and general rehabilitation through its physical, occupational, speech and other rehabilitation focused services.

Central Texas Rehabilitation Hospital was recently named the best Rehabilitation Hospital in the greater Austin area and 12th overall in Texas by Newsweek magazine based on the results of a Statista Inc. survey that ranked the country’s Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers.

“Central Texas Rehabilitation Hospital began discussion with WoundCentrics with the focus on providing specialized wound care services for their rehabilitation patients with a goal of complementing each patient’s rehabilitation plan of care,” according to Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer at WoundCentrics.

“We are excited to have our specially trained wound care providers working with the physicians and clinical staff at Central Texas Rehabilitation Hospital to provide advanced wound care services that will ultimately improve patient outcomes and enhance the overall quality of services received,” stated Marcus Gitterle, WoundCentrics’ Chief Medical Officer.  “Seton Healthcare and Kindred Healthcare are industry leaders and we believe our wound program will fit seamlessly with their high standards of care.”

Ken Rideout, Chief Business Development Officer for WoundCentrics offered that, “our clinical model is designed to provide specialized wound care to patients in all settings, including the inpatient acute care hospital as well as the many post-acute settings where wound care needs are often complex and prevalent such as Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals, Rehabilitation Hospitals, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Long Term Care Facilities and in the patient’s home.”

For more information on WoundCentrics visit the website at www.woundcentrics.com

Welcome our Director of Clinical Education

Education empowers our providers
to deliver exceptional wound care services

Education gives us a knowledge of the world around us and changes it into something better.  It helps us build opinions and have points of view. For WoundCentrics, education empowers our providers to deliver exceptional wound care services to patients in all aspects of the healthcare continuum of care. In August we welcomed our new Director of Clinical Education, Chelsea Kelley, MSN, APRN, FNP-C.  Chelsea graduated with her Master of Science in Nursing in 2012 from the University of Texas at Austin and completed her post-MSN Family Nurse Practitioner program in May 2020 from the University of Texas at Tyler.

Chelsea shares, “I had the opportunity to intern at the Christus Santa Rosa Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center, which is managed by WoundCentrics, a few years ago while pursuing a wound care certification program at Emory University.  At the time, I was a Clinical Resource Specialist in the wound care and medical device industry.  After rounding on patients in the hospital and seeing patients in the clinic, I witnessed the healing of complicated wounds through a truly holistic, patient-centered approach led by WoundCentrics providers.  It’s exciting and rewarding!”  When asked what she enjoys outside the workplace, Chelsea tell us, “I love being outdoors and anything adventure related.  I recently took up sailing.  I love guiding wilderness trips and introducing outdoor experiences to others. My daughter is always asking about our ‘next big adventure’. I’m looking forward to taking her on medical missions abroad when she’s older.”

Chelsea joined the WoundCentrics team at our New Braunfels corporate office on August 3, 2020, and immediately began building relationships with our healthcare providers, nurses, clinical staff, and administrative teams. Chelsea, a highly driven clinical specialist, and nurse practitioner will share her knowledge of developing and delivering clinical education and training for both our new and experienced medical professionals at WoundCentrics. Chelsea relays, “My goal is to implement a comprehensive learning experience that is engaging, experiential, vital to providers, and reflective of current, best practice guidelines.” We look forward to Chelsea excelling at utilizing her high-level of clinical expertise across multiple areas to support our comprehensive wound care education programs. 

WoundCentrics Enters New Partnership with Tyler ContinueCARE Hospital

Continuing its close partnership with ContinueCARE Hospitals, WoundCentrics began its 8th specialized wound care services program for the system this month. Tyler ContinueCARE Hospital in Tyler, Texas and WoundCentrics of New Braunfels, Texas began their partnership at the Tyler Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) on August 3, 2020.

Tyler ContinueCARE Hospital is a 51-bed LTACH, located on the 4th floor of Christus Mother Francis Hospital - Tyler.  The Hospital is an accredited long-term acute care hospital with the ability to provide medically complex care, including wound care, to the patients, it serves in East Texas.

“We are pleased to work with the clinical and medical staff at Tyler ContinueCARE Hospital.  Our specialized wound care program is designed to meet the complex needs of these critically ill, long-term acute care patients. Removing wound care from its typical silo in acute care can only help to better serve the needs of these patients and improve their health outcomes,” stated Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer at WoundCentrics.

WoundCentrics is a full-service wound care management and provider company offering wound services in all facilities on the continuum of care, including Acute Care Hospital, Hospital Outpatient Clinics, Long Term Acute Care Hospitals, Rehabilitation Hospitals, Skilled Nursing Facilities and Home Health, including Telehealth.  For more information on WoundCentrics visit our website at www.woundcentrics.com

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A Combined 100 Years of Experience Joins to WoundCentrics

Congratulations Wound Care University (WCU) , graduates! This month we welcomed five new providers to WoundCentrics’ collection of highly trained professionals. We are proud to introduce to you Dr. William Wilson and Nurse Practitioners Ifeoma Ezeigwe, Helen Fitzner, Kayle Notley, and Lisa Standlee.   

WCU is a comprehensive wound care education program developed by our team of specialty wound care providers and associates, to prepare its graduates for complex wound care across the continuum of care. Dr. Wilson, Ifeoma, Helen, Kayla, and Lisa joined us at our New Braunfels corporate office, July 13-17, 2020, for five days of a curriculum which includes wound pathophysiology, treatment modalities, advanced technologies, product literacy, and clinical documentation. WCU allows our graduates to accelerate their wound care career with teachings on clinical skills, such as sharp debridement, Negative Pressure Wound Therapy, and application of Engineered Skin Graft techniques, empowering our highly trained professionals to provide exceptional wound care services that improve outcomes to their patients.   

William Wilson, MD will join our wound care team at Christus Santa Rosa Westover Hills in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Wilson will pair his 28 years of experience in emergency and urgent care, wound care and family medicine with our team at Westover Hills who are committed to the Christus goal to heal wounds, promote early recovery, prevent hospitalization, avoid prolonged or permanent disability and amputations to restore the quality of life through individualized treatment plans (https://www.christushealth.org/santa-rosa/medical-center/services-treatments/wound-care).   

Ifeoma “Ify” Ezeigwe, AGPCNP-C will join Tyler ContinueCARE Hospital in Tyler, Texas. Ify will unite her 27 years of nursing experience with a comprehensive approach to wound care at Tyler ContinueCARE. Ify joins us with a personal mission to foster patient-centered care that is based on quality service, efficiency, and mutual respect for all stakeholders in the delivery of care. Tyler ContinueCARE Hospital is dedicated to its core values of compassion, care, accountability, respect, and empathy (https://continuecare.org/tyler/about-us/).   

Helen Fitzner, DNP, RN, FNP-BC received her doctorate from Texas Tech in 2014 and brings 15 years of nursing experience to WoundCentrics. Helen joins our team at Post Acute Medical (PAM) Rehabilitation Hospital and Cornerstone Specialty Hospital, both located in Round Rock, Texas. Helen has held a variety of leadership and educational roles in critical care and is a CPR and ACLS instructor. Helen, a progress-oriented professional with well-developed communication, leadership, and business skills, will fit in with the culture and mission of PAM Rehabilitation Hospital and Cornerstone Specialty Hospital, to make a difference by providing exceptionally high-quality patient care and outstanding customer service, coupled with loyal, dedicated, and highly trained staff (https://postacutemedical.com/company/about-us https://www.chghospitals.com/about/). 

Kayla Notley, ACNP-BC, RNFA will join our team at ContinueCARE Hospital at Medical Center in Odessa, Texas. Kayla received her MSN from Texas Tech. Having more than 10 years of diverse experience, Kayla will complement the existing team at ContinueCARE to heal wounds, restore a quality of life through individualized treatment plans, and to provide high-quality, compassionate care and service to all our patients (https://continuecare.org/odessa/about-us/). 

Lisa Standlee, FNP joins WoundCentrics with 20 years of clinical experience and four of those years in specialized wound care. Lisa will bring her clinical and wound care experience to Regional WoundCare and Hyperbarics in Corpus Christi, TX. Lisa will work together with our team of highly trained professionals at Regional WoundCare to design individualized treatment plans for each patient based on medical history and the severity of each wound. Our dedicated specialists at Regional WoundCare believe to successfully manage patients with chronic wounds, we must address all underlying medical and surgical problems through a comprehensive strategy in the patients' plan of care (http://www.regionalwoundcare.com/). 

Welcome to our team and congratulations on your graduation from WCU! 

Pictured left to right: William Wilson, MD, Ifeoma “Ify” Ezeigwe, AGPCNP-C, Helen Fitzner, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, Kayla Notley, ACNP-BC, RNFA, and Lisa Standlee, FNP

Christus Westover Hills Welcomes New Wound Center Medical Director, Dr. William Wilson

Press Release: For Immediate Release

CHRISTUS WESTOVER HILLS WELCOMES NEW WOUND CENTER MEDICAL DIRECTOR, DR. WILLIAM WILSON

In July 2020, Christus Santa Rosa Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center- Westover Hills announced the new Medical Director as William Robert Wilson, MD. Dr. Wilson is a Board-Certified Family Medicine physician who has practiced medicine in Texas since he graduated from Texas Tech Medical School, Lubbock, TX, in 1992.

Dr. Wilson is a San Antonio resident and has spent the past nine years as a physician working in the Emergency Room and Urgent Care clinics in the San Antonio area.  He recently completed his wound care training at Wound Care University in New Braunfels. He is currently providing inpatient wound care in the Hospital at Christus Santa Rosa Westover Hills Hospital, and serving as the Medical Director for the outpatient Christus Santa Rosa Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center- Westover Hills located on the Westover Hills campus.

If you are a provider or patient who would like to schedule an appointment at the Christus Santa Rosa Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center- Westover Hills please call the Center at (210) 703-8454   or send a patient referral via eFax to (877) 264-7020.

The CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center at Westover Hills employ a multidisciplinary team of professionals, providing the most advanced, state-of-the-art treatment currently available for chronic non-healing wounds. We utilize advanced treatment techniques such as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, artificial skin applications, and aggressive wound care strategies with the goal of preventing amputations and restoring patients to the full quality of life they experienced before the onset of non-healing wounds. Our goal is to restore a patient's quality of life through individualized treatment plans as well as to offer education to patients and their families (https://www.christushealth.org/santa-rosa/westover-hills/services-treatments/wound-care).

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Ochsner Extended Care Hospital Partners with WoundCentrics

Press Release: For Immediate Release

Ochsner Extended Care Hospital Partners with WoundCentrics

WoundCentrics, LLC, based in New Braunfels, Texas, is proud to announce that it has signed a Specialized Wound Care Services Agreement with Ochsner Extended Care Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ochsner Extended Care Hospital is a 32 bed LTACH that is a joint venture between Louisiana Home Care Group (LHC) and Ochsner Health.

WoundCentrics began providing wound care services to the patients at the long-term acute care hospital on May 19, 2020. The agreement, which was originally slated to start later this summer, was implemented earlier than planned to help Ochsner Extended Care Hospital care for the increasing number of complex wounds they were seeing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, the LTACH converted temporarily to an all COVID-19 hospital. Upon doing so, the wound care needs of this medically complex population were quickly identified and the program was initiated via telehealth and then onsite shortly thereafter.

The WoundCentrics specialized inpatient wound care program aligns with the care needs of long-term care facilities that are challenged with the task of managing very sick patients including the care for their complex wounds. Acute and post-acute wound care are critically important to the patients overall healing and health.

“WoundCentrics is proud to partner with Ochsner Health and the LHC Group to provide inpatient wound care services and work with the local clinical and administrative team at the Extended Care Hospital in New Orleans,” explained Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer at WoundCentrics. “With the added challenge of COVID-19, we have seen something similar to what we experienced with most of our contracted partners and that is that although the types of wounds have changed since CMS adopted its new LTACH admission criteria, the incidence of wounds on these sicker patients certainly has not decreased. We are looking forward to providing our unique inpatient wound care program for these critically ill patients in partnership with the medical staff and clinical team at Ochsner Extended Care Hospital,” Oertli added.

WoundCentrics is a specialty provider of education, training and direct wound care services that focus on wounds across the entire continuum of care, including acute care hospitals, LTACHs, Rehabilitation Hospitals, Skilled Nursing Facilities and Home Health settings. WoundCentrics currently operates in 12 states and employs more than 50 wound care physicians and mid-level providers (www.woundcentrics.com). LHC Group is a nationwide organization operating in 35 states and employing more than 30,000. LHC's services include home health, hospice, palliative care and facility based care. They operate more than a dozen long term acute care hospitals in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas (https://lhcgroup.com).

Ochsner Health is Louisiana's largest non-profit, academic healthcare system employing more than 25,000 staff and more than 4,500 physicians. Ochsner operates more than 40 owned or managed hospitals and specialty hospitals across the region (https://www.ochsner.org).

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