Wound Care Center celebrates first anniversary

HSHS St. Francis Hospital is pleased to celebrate the first anniversary of the hospital’s specialized Wound Care Center, which has served over 1,580 patients since opening in March 2022. The hospital partners with Healogics, the nation’s leading provider of advanced, chronic wound care services, to manage chronic or non-healing wounds. The center is located in the main hospital at 1215 Franciscan Drive in Litchfield and opened on March 8, 2022.

According to Healogics data, an estimated 8.2 million Americans are living with a chronic or non-healing wound. The longer a chronic wound goes without proper treatment, the greater the risk of infection, hospitalization and amputation. 

Patients who could benefit from treatment at the Wound Care Center are those suffering from wounds that haven't healed within a reasonable time frame, diabetic ulcers or pressure ulcers, infections or compromised skin grafts. The Wound Care Center is designed to complement the services offered by patients’ primary care physicians – in fact, it can be thought of as an extension of their physician’s practice. 

 “We are delighted to be serving our communities’ need for wound care services. We see firsthand the benefits this service provides to so many who need specialized care that our Wound Care Center can provide,” states Dawn Davee, RN, CPD, program director for the Center. “Our team of specially trained professionals work in partnership with the patient and their physician throughout the course of treatment with the goal of achieving the best possible standard of living for the individual.”

The highly trained team uses the most up-to-date treatments to create a program specifically tailored to the patient’s needs to provide the most effective approach, which may include:

• Vascular evaluation
• Debridement
• Laboratory evaluation
• Infectious disease management
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Lymphedema therapy
• Edema management
• Nutritional management
• Pain management
• Diabetic education
• Nuclear medicine
• Radiology
• Home health services
• Ostomy management 

Patients can be seen with or without a physician’s referral. Anyone interested in learning more about the services offered can call 217-324-8260.

St. Francis Hospital President and CEO Jim Timpe notes, “The Wound Care Center and the care our colleagues provide reflect our commitment to a need in the community to address an overall increase in chronic non-healing wounds. I’m proud we have reached the one-year anniversary of offering easy access to these proven therapies within our facility.”