St. Joseph’s Medical Center opens advanced wound care center in Yonkers

St. Joseph”™s Medical Center held a ribbon cutting Jan. 22 for the new O”™Neill Center for Advanced Wound Care, an outpatient facility that offers treatment for patients with nonhealing wounds.

St. Joseph's wound care yonkers — Sherry Ayala, a hyperbaric oxygen technician, at the opening of the new facility. Photo by Aleesia Forni

“Those of you that know anything about health care know that it is changing and evolving constantly,” Michael J. Spicer, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Medical Center, said during the ceremony. “Because of this, we as providers look to enhance and expand our services, especially if those services can be provided on an outpatient basis.”
Spicer said the medical center looked to the needs of the community and felt this facility “was a service that met a critical need.”

Between 5 million and 7 million Americans experience at least one form of a nonhealing wound annually, according to the center”™s co-medical Director Dr. James Jen, and the incidence of these wounds is increasing by approximately 10 percent each year.

“Many of these individuals suffer from wounds that refuse to heal despite conventional treatment,” he said. “These wounds seldom involve a simple answer.”

At the center, patients are examined by a staff that includes doctors, nurses and technicians with advanced training in wound care and are evaluated for all possible physical conditions, such as diabetes, that could interfere with proper healing.

The team is also trained in hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which promotes healing by increasing the level of oxygen in the tissue and improving the healing efficiency of the white blood cells. Therapy is administered in a hyperbaric chamber that delivers 100 percent oxygen with increased atmospheric pressure, stimulating the entire body”™s natural healing responses.

Patients prescribed this treatment typically require two-hour sessions five days per week. During treatment, patients lay in individual chambers that are equipped with televisions and headphones for their entertainment.

Co-medical Director Dr. James DeMeo said the addition of the wound care center will benefit numerous patients in the community suffering with complications from diabetes or other types of nonhealing wounds.

“Our goal is to return patients to their daily lives as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he said.
The medical center partnered with RestorixHealth, a White Plains provider of wound care management services, to bring the facility to Yonkers. “We fully expect this center to set the standard of care in our region,” Spicer said.

The facility was named in honor of Richard O”™Neill, founder of affordable housing development company Sacred Heart Housing and a longtime supporter of St. Joseph”™s.
“I can”™t think of anyone really who is more deserving of having his name on this banner,” Mayor Mike Spano said at the grand opening ceremony.

The Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine at Saint Joseph”™s Medical Center at 127 S. Broadway in Yonkers is open Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For more information, call 914-378-7900 or visit saintjosephs.org.