The Wound Care Clinic at Day Kimball Hospital has expanded its hours in order to accommodate more patients, due to increasing demand for the service. The Wound Care Clinic now offers appointments on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Wound Care Clinic provides specialized treatment to help heal post-surgical wounds, wounds that won’t heal due to chronic conditions like diabetes or poor circulation, and wounds caused by pressure points or trauma. The Clinic takes an integrated approach focused on preventing recurrence by coordinating appropriate follow-up care with physical therapy, nutrition counseling, diabetes management and other medical services. 

Treatment is provided by specially trained and certified wound care nurses under the supervision of specially trained physicians. Treatments include state-of-the-art advanced wound care with special dressing applications, the application of topical pharmaceutical compounds, negative pressure wound therapy (a therapeutic technique using a vacuum dressing), pulsed lavage (mechanical hydrotherapy to irrigate wounds), total contact casting (to treat diabetic foot ulcers) and surgical and non-surgical debridement (removal of dead, damaged or infected tissue).

Dr. R. David McCallum, MD, a general surgeon with Day Kimball Medical Group with specialized training in wound care, is the Clinic’s medical director. 

“As we’ve seen a rise in chronic conditions like diabetes and poor circulation, we’ve also seen an increased need for treatment of chronic wounds,” Dr. McCallum said. “The complications from chronic wounds that won’t heal – whether they’re from a chronic condition, surgery or trauma – can be quite serious, so it’s vital that people who have these wounds receive the proper care.”

Dr. McCallum says that the specialized therapies provided by the clinic, in combination with the supportive follow-up services to help prevent recurrence, results in patients who’ve struggled with chronic wounds seeing significant improvement if not total resolution of their wounds and the discomfort they cause. 

“That goes a long way toward improving people’s quality of life, as well as their overall health,” Dr. McCallum said.

Jolyne Giles, an RN with Wound Care Certification (WCC) and an Ostomy Management Specialist (OMS), is the Clinic’s operations coordinator. 

“The volume of patients we’re treating at the Wound Care Clinic has nearly tripled over the last six years and that trend is not slowing down,” Giles said. “This increase in the clinic’s hours will go a long way toward allowing us to continue seeing our current patients as well as additional new patients moving forward.”

Appointments at the Wound Care Clinic require a referral from a primary care practitioner, hospital-based physician or surgeon. Once a referral is made, patients may call the Clinic at (860) 963-6350 Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to schedule their first appointment. More information is available at daykimball.org/woundcare.