CAMDEN, N.J. -- Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center recently opened the Lourdes Center for Advanced Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine, which employs advanced technologies and proven clinical practice guidelines in the treatment of chronic, nonhealing wounds.

"We are excited about adding this important service to our continuum of care," said Mark Bateman, chief executive officer of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center. "Not only does this center complement the quality care already available at the hospital, but it also fills an important need in the community."

Each year, more than 6 million Americans seek treatment for nonhealing wounds, which are often caused by diabetes, poor blood circulation, bed sores, collagen vascular disease, traumatic injury or radiation exposure. Without proper treatment, these wounds can interfere with a person's physical activity and even lead to amputation of limbs.

The outpatient program at the Lourdes Center for Advanced Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine is operated in partnership with Diversified Clinical Services, a national leader in supporting comprehensive programs and advanced therapies to heal wounds and save limbs. At the new center, treatments include medication therapy, skin grafting, noninvasive vascular intervention and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Patients receive individualized care from an interdisciplinary team that includes general surgeons Matthew Finnegan, MD, James Finnegan, MD, and Brian Smeal, MD; podiatrist Joseph Donnelly, DPM; vascular and plastic surgeons; infectious disease experts; interventional cardiologists; physical therapists; pharmacists; registered dietitians; and specially trained nurses.

"We challenge ourselves to heal wounds quickly by evaluating and formulating a treatment plan for every diagnosis," said Dr. Matthew Finnegan, co-medical director of the center. "Each patient receives proven therapies that deliver excellent clinical outcomes."

Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, a 410-bed regional referral center in Camden, New Jersey, is an affiliate of the Lourdes Health System. Specialty services include the New Jersey Heart Institute at Lourdes, the largest provider of cardiac services in southern New Jersey and Philadelphia; the Regional Perinatal Center for high-risk mothers and infants; the Lourdes Stroke Center; the Southern New Jersey Dialysis Center; the Center for Organ Transplantation; the Lourdes Regional Rehabilitation Center; the Lourdes Center for Advanced Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine; bariatric (weight-loss) surgery; and robot-assisted surgery. Lourdes Health System is sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, N.Y., and is a member of Catholic Health East, a health system with 34 hospitals in 11 eastern states. More information is available at www.lourdesnet.org and at www.che.org.

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