WoundCentrics opens the WoundCentrics Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center in Lafayette, Louisiana

WoundCentrics, a full-service advanced wound care company, has announced the management of the former Louisiana Limb Salvage Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. 

The WoundCentrics wound clinic offers state-of-the-art wound care, providing advanced technologies and treatments, including advanced wound care, vascular assessments, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.  

Patients in the area who suffer from chronic, non-healing wounds due to diabetes, vascular issues, infection, pressure, and other health-related problems can be treated at the clinic located at 901 Wilson, Suite D, in the Oil Center in Lafayette.  

The WoundCentrics Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center is staffed with wound care trained providers and nursing staff. The wound center staff will coordinate care plans with the patient’s current referring providers and care team and keep the patient’s care team informed at every step of treatment. 

Typical wounds seen in the wound center include diabetic ulcers, vascular wounds, arterial wounds, pressure wounds, and infected wounds.  Once a diagnosis is identified in the patients, various treatments are prescribed, including sharp debridement, compression, off-loading, dressings, skin substitutes, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and vascular studies. 

 “We are pleased to manage the wound and hyperbaric oxygen program at the WoundCentrics Wound Care Center in Lafayette,” said Ben Simpson, VP of Ambulatory Services for WoundCentrics. “Our goal is to help heal patients with chronic, difficult wounds and improve patient lives.” 

Located at 901 Wilson Street, Suite D in Lafayette, the Clinic is open Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm. To learn more about WoundCentrics, visit the website at www.woundcentrics.com.

WoundCentrics & Wound Care University Faculty Members to Present at Wild On Wounds Conference (WOW) in Hollywood, Florida this Fall

Marcus Gitterle, M.D., FACCWS, Chief Medical Officer for WoundCentrics, LLC, and Sara Holtman, RN, BSN, MHA, CWS, WCC, Director of Clinical Education for WoundCentrics and Director of Wound Care University, will be presenting at the Wild On Wounds national conference in Hollywood, Florida September 13 – 16, 2023. 

According to Wild On Wounds (WOW), the annual conference is the third largest wound care conference nationally and is focused on empowering the healthcare workforce with impactful wound care education created by and for clinicians.   

WOW attendees come from all over the U.S. to network and participate in the hands-on workshops and to learn new, advanced wound care treatments and technologies to better care for patients. 

Dr. Gitterle and Sara Holtman will present “Nutrition is the Key,” a nutrition and wound healing lecture on Saturday, September 16th. “We are looking forward to contributing to Wild on Wounds, and especially on this key topic,” stated Dr.Gitterle. 

” I am honored to speak at the WOW conference with some of the best wound care clinicians in the industry,” Holtman said.  “Dr. Gitterle and I have collaborated for many years to bring our education department to where it is today, and to be recognized like this is a true honor.  I look forward to continuing to educate the healthcare community on best and current wound care practices,” Holtman stated. 

WoundCentrics announces expansion of Clinical Research Program with two New Clinical Trials

WoundCentrics, LLC, a comprehensive wound care company based in New Braunfels, Texas, has announced participation in 2 clinical trials at several of their Texas clinical sites. “As we have grown and our patient volumes and clinical research capabilities grew, we recognized the need to contribute to the body of evidence in wound care in order to better care for those we serve,” stated Marcus Gitterle, MD, WoundCentrics’ Chief Medical Officer. In making the commitment, the company hired a clinical research coordinator and invested in the infrastructure required to successfully manage the complexities of producing meaningful results from its work. 

The first study, sponsored by Engineered Tissue Solutions (ETS), an emerging wound care device company that has developed an innovative bioactive glass technology that reduces healing time, minimizes treatment costs, and improves patient outcomes. This Phase Three Clinical Trial, which ETS has funded, utilizes ETS’ Mirragen Engineered Dermal Substitute for the treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulceration.  WoundCentrics will support as a clinical trial site and has already begun enrolling patients in Corpus Christi, Texas. 

Additionally, WoundCentrics is expected to serve as a primary site in a clinical trial sponsored by Estar Technologies, LTD, which will utilize their innovative Platelet Rich Fibrin product in the treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers. The clinical trial is currently awaiting final IRB approval and is expected to begin later this summer in multiple WoundCentrics locations in Texas. 

While funded studies enable broader research objectives, WoundCentrics has also undertaken several retrospective studies which are ongoing in the areas of Chronic DVT and venous ulcer disease, as well as revascularization outcomes in patients recommended for amputation due to having been deemed to have “no other options.” 

It is a privilege to be able to help advance the state of the art in Wound Care and to be able to offer leading-edge therapies to our patients. I’m proud of our team for their outstanding contributions in the area of clinical research,” remarked Dr. Gitterle.  

Stuart Oertli, WoundCentrics’ Chief Operating Officer, closed by saying, “It is our goal to continue to grow our research capabilities, engage in new studies regularly and collaborate with our teams and sponsors to publish the findings our research is able to generate. Under the guidance of Dr. Gitterle and with the support of our Vice President of Ambulatory Services, Ben Simpson, we have already seen early success both for our patients and our research partners.” 

WoundCentrics to expand relationship with Louisiana Home care with new agreements to provide its specialized wound care program in Alexandria and Lacombe, Louisiana and Hot Springs, Arkansas

WoundCentrics recently signed three new agreements to provide it’s specialized wound care services for the Long Term Acute Care Hospitals operated by Louisiana Home Care (LHC) based in Lafayette, Louisiana.  This announcement expands on the existing relationship between the two companies which as been in place since WoundCentrics began providing services at Ochsner Extended Care Hospital in New Orleans in 2020. 

Services began at Northshore Extended Care Hospital in Lacombe, Louisiana in March 2023 and at Christus Dubuis Hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana in April 2023. It is anticipated that the program at Arkansas Extended Care Hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas will begin in May 2023. will be adding a WoundCentrics wound care specialist provider to coordinated care with the hospital staff to deliver advanced wound care services to patients in the LHC Hospitals. 

“ We are excited to extend our advanced wound care services to patients in these new LHC  locations.  LHC has been a great partner in New Orleans and that program has truly made a difference for the patients receiving care there. Our goal is to provide quality, compassionate wound care services with the clinical and administrative support that is not often found when ‘me too’ services are offered by providers who don’t specialize in advanced wound care,”  stated Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer for WoundCentrics.  

WoundCentrics is located in New Braunfels, Texas and operates 14 wound centers and provides advanced wound care services in more than 100 inpatient facilities across 12 states with a goal of providing advanced wound care, amputation prevention and vascular services to the communities we serve.  

Christus Santa Rosa Medical Center San Antonio Celebrates Zero Reportable Wound Events with WoundCentrics Inpatient Wound Care Service

Christus Santa Rosa San Antonio Medical Center Inpatient Wound Service Team celebrates Zero Reportables

Christus Santa Rosa Medical Center San Antonio and WoundCentrics had a hospital sponsored celebration event on February 10th to highlight a team achievement of zero reportable wound care events, hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) for over 100 days. Christus has contracted WoundCentrics, a wound care management company, to oversee the inpatient skin and wound care program in partnership with the hospital’s staff.  

Since the full implementation of the WoundCentrics specialist nursing and provider programs, the hospital’s reportable events, Stage III, Stage IV, and Unstageable pressure ulcers, have fallen to zero reportable events to the controlling agencies that mandate reporting such events. Both the Christus clinical team and the WoundCentrics team share in the success of the Inpatient wound care service delivery of these outstanding results as it takes coordinated efforts to provide these outcomes. 

Christus Santa Rosa San Antonio staff helps us celebrate.

Kimberly A. Ford, MBA-HM, BSN, RN, Director of Operations for Inpatient Services for WoundCentrics explained, “Although the concept of our program is built on the foundation of Best Practices for Pressure Injury Prevention and advanced wound care, the implementation and ongoing oversight with the associated culture shifts is where we can work with our hospital partners and create improved outcomes. This makes a difference not only to the care that is provided, but it has an enormous effect on Quality and Patient Safety scores and significant financial benefits by decreasing associated costs by up to 75%. ““The collaborative and proactive support provided by our inpatient program has also been shown to increase satisfaction of the hospital team members, nursing and other ancillary team members, and in turn affects retention. Our experience with wound prevention, early identification, timely interventions and our education program are delivering results at the bedside,” Ford said.  

For background, an article published in WoundScource on January 31, 2023, stated: 

“The National Quality Forum (NQF) introduced the term never event in the early 2000s, and it refers to a preventable error that may represent fundamental issues with the quality or safety of care within a medical setting.1 This wording was initially selected because these events are situations that should never happen to any patient, such as surgery to the wrong leg or leaving a sponge in a patient after surgery.2 In recent years, the NQF has adopted the term serious reportable events (SREs), but in many instances, the term never event is still used.” 

Never Events in Wound Care: In wound care, the concept of a never event is complicated. In 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a list of facility never events that are not covered under Medicare. Under that list were hospital-acquired stage 3 and 4 pressure injuries, along with unstageable pressure injuries. Several other hospital-acquired conditions are listed, including burns and certain surgical site infections. 

For those working in understaffed facilities or with patient populations at a higher risk of such injury, the inclusion of these conditions as never events may have profound consequences. In certain cases, wound care professionals who provide the standard of care or even care that exceeds expectations may receive repercussions when a patient develops a pressure injury. In addition to Medicare not providing coverage for these injuries, clinicians could face legal action from the patient or their family. 

WoundCentrics Inpatient Wound Care Service is designed and customized to lead the hospital’s wound care program to provide advanced wound care services that align with the hospital nursing and clinical teams. The program reduces risk, reduces harm events, improves documentation and adherence to standard of care for a first line of defense. 

Marcus Gitterle, MD, Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of WoundCentrics said, “I am proud of our team, for helping the Christus Santa Rosa system to achieve such an outstanding level of patient safety. Pressure Injury prevention requires a deeply collaborative culture, and excellent communication, in order to be sustainable. Our “Measurvention” approach is, I feel the only reliable method for prospective prevention of these iatrogenic events, and these results affirm that.” 

Veteran Healthcare Executive Shawn Strash joins WoundCentrics

Shawn Strash, MHA, MBA, CHC, FACHE

Shawn Strash, FACHE, has joined the WoundCentrics management team as Vice-President of Growth and Strategy. In this new role, Shawn will develop  our first Ambulatory Surgery Center, San Antonio Surgery Center of Excellence while promoting our expanded limb preservation efforts through our existing and new Office Based Cath Labs and Cardiovascular Clinics in the WoundCentrics portfolio of companies. 

Shawn is a seasoned healthcare executive with more than 30 years in the ASC/ Hospital industry. He has specialized primarily in start-ups, turn-around opportunities, hospital and ASC mergers/acquisitions and hospital management. 

Shawn’s background includes leadership of 21 hospitals, 18 as CEO, as well as operational responsibility for 75 ASCs. His experience and leadership will focus on the San Antonio Surgery Center of Excellence initially, that is expected to begin accepting patients in March 2023. 

As CEO of Landmark Hospital in Naples, Florida, he was hired to turn the company around and add additional service lines.  The revenue streams he added to Landmark included surgery, destination medicine, inpatient rehabilitation and partnering with WoundCentrics for an inpatient wound care programs across their seven hospitals.  It was during his time in Naples, Florida that Shawn worked with WoundCentrics that would lead to his joining the company recently. 

Shawn has extensive ASC experience as  CEO of Arise Healthcare systems in Austin, Texas, a company that now develops and manages outpatient base cath labs.  He also served s as Senior Vice President  of Corporate Services and Chief Compliance Officer for AMSURG, a national ASC company.  

”We are truly excited to have someone with Shawn’s background and experience join our team. His work in recent years with payers and as a member of Health Rosetta exemplify the kind of partnerships we hope to make between patients, payers and providers to benefit those we serve.” 

New Cardiovascular and Wound Care Center to Open in Seguin, TX

WoundCentrics and Texas Cardiac and Vascular Institute (TCVI) have announced a new Cardiovascular and Advanced Wound Care Center in Seguin, Texas to provide cardiology, minimally invasive limb preservation procedures and advanced wound care to the community. The new clinic will began providing cardiology services in August 2022, will begin offering endovascular services in September 2022 and will begin advanced wound care services on October 3rd, 2022. 

WoundCentrics and TCVI are collaborating to provide advanced modalities for wound care and endovascular treatment to patients with non-healing wounds including diabetic foot ulcers, venous and arterial leg ulcers, infected wounds, radiated tissue injury and surgical wounds with complications. Our wound centers also treat conditions that can lead to wounds like arterial/venous insufficiency and collaborate with our vascular specialists to treat peripheral arterial/venous disease and critical limb ischemia. 

“Our staff and providers are wound care specialists trained in the latest techniques for evaluation and management of acute and chronic wounds, vascular evaluation and management of the underlying medical conditions that  require care coordination with other medical professionals and/or allied health specialists,” stated Ben Simpson, WoundCentrics Vice President of Operations. 

“Co-locating WoundCentrics’ wound care clinic with TCVI has proven incredibly successful at improving patient outcomes and preventing amputations for those with chronic wounds or critical limb ischemia in our Corpus Christi location. Being based here in South Central Texas, we are excited to be able to offer those services to the local community here in Seguin,” relayed Stuart Oertli, WoundCentrics Chief Operating Officer.  

WoundCentrics new wound center will offer advanced therapies including engineered dermal substitutes, negative pressure therapy, MIST therapy, specialty dressings, compression dressings, off-loading and sharp debridement. TCVI will perform both cardiology and vascular services including medication management, diagnostic testing and will provide endovascular intervention including angiography/venography, atherectomy, arterial/venous stenting, and superficial vein ablation.  

The new WoundCentrics and TCVI clinic is located at 1255 Ashby St. Building A, in Seguin, Texas. The clinic will be open daily, Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm, to see patients and make new and follow-up appointments.  

For an appointment call 832-590-8049 or visit our website at:  www.woundcentrics.com 

WoundCentrics Opens 2nd Wound Care Clinic in Corpus Christi

WoundCentrics has announced a new Wound Care Clinic is now open to provide advanced wound care to the Corpus Christi community. WoundCentrics is expanding its services to the South side of Corpus Christi to better meet the needs of the residents living there. The new wound care clinic is found at 5920 Saratoga Blvd, Suite 120. Corpus Christi TX 78414, next to Christus Spohn South and is accepting new patients by calling 361-299-0364.

WoundCentrics wound centers provide advanced modalities for wound care to patients with non-healing wounds including diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, infected wounds, radiated tissue injury and surgical wounds with complications. Our wound centers also treat conditions that can lead to wounds like venous insufficiency and collaborate with our vascular specialists to treat peripheral arterial disease and critical limb ischemia. The staff and providers are wound care specialists trained in the latest techniques for evaluation and management of acute and chronic wounds, vascular evaluation and management of underlying conditions that require care coordination with other medical professionals and/or allied health specialists.

WoundCentrics’ advanced wound centers work closely with Texas Cardiovascular Institute (TCVI) in Corpus Christi to ensure that patients who need a vascular assessment of their lower limbs receive timely evaluation and management for these conditions which often exacerbate chronic wounds or prevent wound healing. By working with TCVI, the wound center staff can establish a care plan knowing the vascular status. Other advanced therapies are available to help with healing plans such as engineered dermal substitutes, negative pressure therapy, MIST therapy, specialty dressings, compression dressings, off-loading and sharp debridement.

“Opening a second clinic in Corpus Christi to serve its South side residents and those who live on the island or South of the city has long been our goal. Although the pandemic slowed the opening of our new clinic, we are pleased to now be open and providing advanced wound care to our patients.” stated Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer

According to Ben Simpson, VP of Operations for WoundCentrics, “Adding a second clinic in the Corpus Christi region will enable the clinics to provide easier access to a wound specialist and schedule patients sooner for a patient population that needs advanced wound care.”

The new clinic will be open daily, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, to see patients and make new and follow-up appointments. WoundCentrics continues to operate in its original location as well at 1533 5th St. near Christus Spohn Shoreline.

Marcus Gitterle, M.D. to present research poster to Society of Advanced Wound Care

Marcus Gitterle, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of WoundCentrics. LLC, a national provider of wound care services based in New Braunfels, Texas, will be presenting a research poster at the Abstract & Poster Session at the SAWC Fall Conference in the Caesars Palace Conference Center, Las Vegas, NV, October 13-16.

The Poster will be presented at the Advanced Clinical Practice and Emerging Research session, Sunday, October 16th. The title of the poster is “Wound Care During the Covid-19 Pandemic, the new Reality.”

The focus of the poster will highlight the impact that Covid 19 had on clinical wound care.

· Understanding the effects of Covid-19 on the skin

· NPIAP guidance related to COVID-19 and unavoidable Pressure Injury

· Protecting the Proned Patient

· Maintaining continuity of wound care operations during a pandemic

“The COVID-19 pandemic presented the greatest challenges ever seen in terms of delivery of wound care, in both outpatient and inpatient settings,” said Dr. Marcus Gitterle, CMO for WoundCentrics. “Wound care teams encountered new skin lesions related to direct and indirect effects of the SARS-Cov2 virus, along with shortages of skilled nurses and DME, and the exigencies of implementing a new set of prevention strategies specific to proned patients. I believe our specialty rose to the occasion, and this poster presentation is an effort to consolidate some of the pearls gleaned from a variety of wound care teams and systems, internationally,” stated Dr. Gitterle.

The poster session presentations at the SAWC Fall Conference were selected from over 250 submissions, and a panel of thirty wound care experts. chose this poster for presentation. The intent is that Poster presentations will provide up to date, innovative information that will aid wound care clinicians.

WoundCentrics is an integrated wound care solutions provider, delivering advanced wound care in acute care inpatient and outpatient settings, and post-acute facilities including Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH), skilled nursing facilities (SNF) and the inpatient rehabilitation hospitals (IRF). WoundCentrics hires and trains wound care providers, nurses and other clinicians on advanced wound care.

Wound Care University Announces the Introductory Course in Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care receives NBDHMT Accreditation

Wound Care University of New Braunfels, Texas, has announced that their Introductory Course in Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care has been approved by the National Board of Diving &Hyperbaric Medical Technology. The Board established the industry criteria for the certification of technicians involved in the practice of diving and hyperbaric oxygen therapy in 1985.

It is the position of the National Board of Diving & Hyperbaric Technology that all those who operate hyperbaric chambers and related delivery systems, or are required to work within hyperbaric chambers, become certified in hyperbaric technology or hyperbaric nursing.

With the approval of Wound Care University’s introductory course, attendees that complete the course and pass the course exam will be eligible for certification or recertification by NBDHMT. The pathway to sit for the Certified Hyperbaric Technician (CHT) or the Certified Hyperbaric Registered Nurse (CHRN) certification exam begins upon completing the Wound Care University course and attendees become eligible after one year of work experience in the field.

“Wound Care University has been offering the Introductory Course in Hyperbaric Medicine since 2019, during which time the course has been accredited for the training of physicians and Advanced-Practice professionals, by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. Achieving the NBDHMT Accreditation is a milestone for our course, which opens opportunities to expand our educational reach to all students that are seeking a career in hyperbaric medicine,” stated Sara Holtman, Director of Education, Wound Care University.

Dr. Marcus Gitterle, a faculty member and course instructor said, “I am proud of our Wound Care University team for achieving accreditation by the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology. We have worked hard to make our introductory course in hyperbaric medicine and wound care accessible, practical, and robust, and this recognition by one of the most respected organizations in the field is a tremendous achievement. We look forward to empowering professionals to enter this exciting and rewarding career pathway.”

“Achieving our goal of NBDHMT accreditation allows EMS professionals, Licensed Vocational Nurses, and Registered Nurses to pursue their career goals and obtain CHT and CHRN certification. I work closely coordinating with each attendee and look forward to helping more professionals further their education through this course,” stated Chelsea Thompson, EMT, CHT and Hyperbaric Medicine Safety Director and Faculty for Wound Care University

“Becoming a CHT has been beneficial in so many ways. Learning the physics of how hyperbaric oxygen therapy works has taught me the importance of oxygen in wound healing. I have been able to advance my career and improve my work/life balance. I started with my current company eight years ago as a hyperbaric tech, after one year of employment I was encouraged to continue my education to become a CHT. I have recently been promoted to a Wound Care and Hyperbaric Program Director,” Shared Daniel Guerrero EMT, CHT, Faculty for Wound Care University.

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