St. Mary’s and the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce recently cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening of St. Mary’s Center for Wound Healing, a new hospital-based outpatient facility at 4017 Atlanta Highway that offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy and other state-of-the-art treatments for patients with chronic wounds.

The center features debridement, infection control, specialized dressings, negative pressure wound therapy, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. It is staffed by specially trained nurses and technologists, and care is directed by local physicians who have completed specialized training in wound care and hyperbaric medicine. The center also offers plenty of free parking, front-door access and on-site registration.

“Seven million Americans are diagnosed with a non-healing wound each year due to diabetes, peripheral artery disease or infection,” said John Reeck clinical director and head of St. Mary’s Emergency Department and Infusion/IV Therapy. “Our new wound center will help heal those wounds and could potentially prevent hundreds of amputations each year in addition to alleviating the pain, disability and expense of chronic wounds.”

To learn more, call St. Mary’s Center for Wound Healing at 706.389.3065 or visit the center’s page at www.stmarysathens.org.