The University of Toledo Medical Center will celebrate the region’s first multiple patient hyperbaric chamber with the opening of the new Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center.

The UT Medical Center has long been the place for healing the most complex wounds and ulcers and the addition of the new multiplace hyperbaric chamber system from OxyHeal Health Group will allow the hospital to offer the most up-to-date, comprehensive treatment.

UTMC leaders will be joined by Toledo area physicians to celebrate the Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17; the center is located in the newly renovated north entrance to the medical center off Arlington Avenue.

“The Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center brings together specialists from across UT Medical Center to provide patients with the bestpossible care for their wounds and ulcers,” said Dr. Munier M.S. Nazzal, medical director of the Would Care and Hyperbaric Center and chief of the UTMC Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery. “The unique large hyperbaric chamber allows our center to treat more patients in a more comfortable environment with the latest technology available.”

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a treatment method in which the patient breathes 100 percent oxygen while at increased, higher than sea level atmospheric pressure inside a hyperbaric chamber. The therapy is used for avariety of conditions, including diabetic ulcers, radiation tissue damage, and crushed injuries and severed limbs. The treatment also is used for emergency treatments for carbon monoxide and cyanide poisoning.

The treatment increases the oxygen levels in the plasma up to 15 times the normal level, which provides oxygen to deprived tissues. The treatment also has been shown to stimulate new blood vessel growth.

“Hyperbaric oxygen therapy or ‘high dose oxygen’ utilizesthe drug ‘oxygen’ to treat a variety of comprehensive wound and advanced indications,” said W. T. “Ted” Gurneé, president and CEO of OxyHeal Health Group. “Many of the advanced therapies require a university organization’s research and clinical skills to prove that efficacy. OxyHeal is thrilled to be involved with The University of Toledo Medical Center to bring these new solutions and advanced healing techniques to our Toledo patients.”

The new hyperbaric chamber at UTMC, Model OxyHeal 8000-10, is designed to treat up to 10 seated patients simultaneously. The “Omega” shaped geometry of the chamber also provides the option to treat up to fourpatients lying down. The chamber allows patients additional comfort during their treatments, which can be up to two hours, and patients could require multiple treatments.

The large chamber, which is 21 feet long and 10 feet wide, is the first of this type in the United States and the only multiple patient hyperbaric chamber in northwest Ohio.

“Our patients and the community expect the very best care from their academic health center, and the new UT Wound and Hyperbaric Center is another example of our efforts to provide up-to-date and comprehensive medical treatment at UT Medical Center,” said Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, chancellor, executive vice president for biosciences and health affairs, and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences.

A multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, medical assistants and hyperbaric technologists certified in hyperbaric oxygen therapy operate the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center and work closely with UT Medical Center physicians and specialists, including vascular surgeons, plastic surgeons, infectious disease specialists and podiatrists.

For more information about the UT Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center, call toll-free 855.59.WOUND.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 17, 2012)
WTOL 11, 13 ABC, FOX Toledo and WNWO (Feb. 20, 2012)
The Independent Collegian (Feb. 23, 2012)

Tags: The University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC)