New center at Medina hospital helps heal chronic wounds
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Lisa Albanese, right, of Brockport is program director of the new Wound Center at Medina Memorial Hospital. Alicia Grandy of Albion is the Wound Care Center nurse. They stand in the stretcher/bed room at the center which recently opened.
MEDINA – An unused space in Medina Memorial Hospital is seeing new life as the location of a new Wound Care Center.
Lisa Albanese of Brockport, formerly of Medina, is program director for the Wound Care Center, which has offices in both Medina and United Memorial Health Care Center in Batavia. Medina’s center is located on the first floor of the hospital, in what used to be the Intensive Care Unit.
The centers are each served by a nurse, podiatrist Dr. Joseph Canzoneri, who is medical director at both centers, and panel physicians Dr. Christine Cameron and Dr. Zerah Ali.
The Wound Care Centers are affiliated with Healogics, a national organization which specializes in the treatment of chronic wounds. The Medina and Batavia centers adhere strictly to guidelines set forth by Healogics which have proven to be successful in healing patients with chronic wounds, Albanese said.
The decision to open a Wound Care Center in Medina was prompted by the tremendous success of the one in Batavia, Albanese said.
Batavia’s Wound Care Center opened in 2011, and for the past three years has received recognition from Healogics Institute Center of Excellence for performing above the national standards. Last year they healed 96 percent of patients. The average days to heal was 24, Albanese said.
Dr. Cameron sees patients from 1 to 5 p.m. in Tuesdays, while Dr. Canzoneri and Dr. Ali see patients from 1 to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays.
The Medina center features one stretcher room for patients who need to lie down, two rooms with large treatment chairs and one room with a regular chair. They also have a Hoyer lift for patients who are wheelchair bound or can’t stand alone.
Types of wounds which could be treated include surgical wounds which have opened up or diabetic wounds that won’t heal.
The majority of wounds are diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers (such as bed sores), burns, failed skin flaps from surgical procedures, wounds caused by radiation, arterial ulcers (caused by poor circulation) and venous ulcers on the leg.
Wound Care Center nurse Alicia Grandy of Albion demonstrates how a treatment chair can be adjusted to fit any patient.
“It’s the best feeling ever when we can work with a patient and actually heal them,” Grandy said.
“We’ve seen patients who had wounds for years which wouldn’t heal,” Albanese said. “They came to us and we’ve been able to heal them. Living with a wound really affects their quality of life.”
They are able to do debridements of tissue, which helps to stimulate new tissue development, and also do negative pressure wound therapy to stimulate granulation tissue. They also use compression therapy and do total contact casting.
Patients attend the Wound Center weekly, where their progress is continually evaluated.
“If a wound is too wet, we dry it. If it is too dry, we wet it,” Grandy said. “What sets us apart is our ability to utilize special healing guidelines.”
All of the Center’s providers and clinical staff, including Dr. Canzoneri, Dr. Cameron and Dr. Ali, have specialized training in wound care.
“We are very excited to be here,” she said.
When needed, diabetes educator Marion Miano can be available to counsel diabetic patients.
According to information provided by Albanese, 6.7 million people in the United States are affected by chronic wounds, and that number is growing, fueled by an aging population and increasing rates of diabetes, obesity and the late effects of radiation therapy. If left untreated, chronic wounds can lead to diminished quality of life and possibly amputation of the affected limb.
Medina’s Wound Care Center has a front office coordinator, Ellie Pratt, on duty Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to answer calls. Patients may call (585) 798-8176. On other days, callers may leave a message.
No referral is needed to make an appointment at the Wound Center.
The Wound Care Center will host a meet and greet from 4 to 6 p.m. March 25.
