New Lenox hospital now offering hyperbaric oxygen therapy

The Silver Cross Center for Advanced Wound Healing recently acquired two state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen units and began offering HBO therapy on Monday.

In fact, the wound center is rebranded as the Silver Cross Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine and is now located at Silver Cross Pavilion D, Suite 130, on the campus of Silver Cross Hospital, 1851 Silver Cross Blvd. in New Lenox, according to a news release from Silver Cross.

Increases among diabetes-related wound cases and few HBO treatment options in Silver Cross’ service area were among the reasons for moving the wound management clinic from the lower level of the main hospital to larger quarters across the street on the first floor of Pavilion D, Silver Cross said.

“We needed more room for the oxygen supplies for the hyperbaric oxygen chambers,” Matthew Boebel, associate vice president of clinical services at Silver Cross, said in the release. “But we’ll also have five treatment rooms and additional staff. We’ll be able to get patients into treatment more quickly.”

The wound management center typically sees 120 of its regular patients a week in addition to 40 to 45 new patients a month, Silver Cross said.

The new clinic in Pavilion D has parking close to the door and no elevators to navigate, Silver Cross said.

“A lot of our patients often have mobility issues in addition to their wound issues,” Boebel said in the release. “The new clinic will make it much easier for them.”

How it works

During hyperbaric, or high pressure, oxygen or high therapy, the patient breathes 100 percent pure oxygen while inside a pressurized chamber, Silver Cross said.

The air pressure inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber is approximately two-and-a-half times greater than the normal pressure in the atmosphere. This high pressure dose of oxygen helps blood carry more oxygen to organs and connective tissues to promote wound healing and activates white blood cells to fight infection, Silver Cross said.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment can help people with chronic, non-healing wounds that are not responding to standard wound treatment, such as patients with diabetes or cancer-related wounds, Boebel said in the release.

Standard wound treatment includes making sure the wound has proper blood flow to the site, treating any infection and clearing away dead tissue around the wound – debridement, Boebel said in the release.

Additional steps include glucose control, good nutrition, offloading (not putting excessive weight on or near the wound) and keeping the wound properly wrapped, Boebel said in the release.

If the wound isn’t healing, other options are a skin graft or hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Boebel said in the release.

“We don’t just see a patient once and say come back in three weeks,” Boebel said in the release. “We provide the treatment necessary to make sure their wound heals properly so no infection can creep in.”

Doctors specializing in general surgery, podiatry and internal medicine are on staff at the clinic to refer and monitor patients, Silver Cross said.

For more information about Silver Cross Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine, call 815-300-5997.