The UT Health East Texas Wound Healing Center is celebrating Wound Care Awareness Week while raising the awareness of chronic wounds and the advanced wound care available in East Texas. Today, 6.7 million Americans live with chronic wounds, 25 percent of people with diabetes will develop a foot ulcer and one in four families has at least one family member with a chronic wound.
The economic impact on the United States healthcare system is about $50 billion annually. Eighty-two percent of non-traumatic amputations are the result of vascular disease and resultant ulcers, and 50 percent of people will die within five years of an amputation. These statistics are alarming, but patients should not have to suffer with chronic wounds. Advanced wound care is available and early intervention and specialized wound care is the only way to battle chronic non-healing wounds and ulcers.
The UT Health Wound Healing Center uses the most advanced wound care technologies available in the United States, and our physicians are specially trained to diagnose and treat all chronic, non-healing wounds with our resources.
Dr. Evans Smith, medical director of the UT Health Wound Healing Center says, "It is not unusual to see patients living for long periods of time with non-healing wounds and ulcers that could easily be treated due to a simple lack of awareness that treatment options are available in their community. We can provide the best care available in the region to everyone including patients who suffer from chronic medical problems such as diabetes, peripheral vascular disease and pressure ulcers.
“Our goal is to reach out to the community and raise awareness of the resources available at our center. We offer specialized treatment options that include wound debridement, compression therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and non-invasive vascular assessment, to name a few. Additionally, we hope to educate community physicians about which of their patients may benefit from advanced wound care and coordinate with them in order to heal their patients' wounds."
If you are suffering from a non-healing wound, talk to your physician for a referral, or call us at 903-526-4325 or 800-459-0928. Reach the UT Health Jacksonville wound care clinic at 903-541-5143.