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Lee Kolos, VMD, suffered a serious illness that required her to be placed on a ventilator for a week. During that time, the blood pressure medication she needed created complications with her circulation, leaving her with deep, blistering wounds on the tops of her feet.
As a result, over the course of almost two years, Dr. Kolos was seen weekly by the team at Mount Nittany Health Wound Center.
“It was a frustrating time in my life, but the staff were always kind and caring. They took excellent care of me, and I believe they were just as thrilled as I was to see my issues resolved,” said Dr. Kolos.
Providers, Stacy Merrow, PA-C, and Michelle Black, CRNP, lead the patient care team and work alongside dedicated, certified wound care nurses to help patients achieve their best possible outcomes.
Advanced therapies provided by the Center include negative pressure wound therapy, skin substitutes, compression therapy, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) – offering patients the options and solutions that best treat their wounds.
During HBOT patients breathe 100% pure oxygen in the Center’s hyperbaric oxygen unit, commonly referred to as a monoplace chamber. The air pressure is two to three times higher than normal in the chamber. The concentration of oxygen, accompanied by the increased air pressure, helps the lungs gather more oxygen, stimulating new blood vessel growth and improving circulation to accelerate healing.
Christine Tichansky, DO, FACEP, Medical Director, Hyperbaric Medicine, Mount Nittany Health Wound Center, has been a part of the Center for more than seven years and brings with her 28 years of experience as a provider in the Emergency Department at Mount Nittany Medical Center.
“Oxygen is one of the most versatile and powerful agents available to the modern medical practitioner. The therapeutic use of oxygen under pressure (HBOT) has been used to assist in wound healing for almost 40 years. At the Center, we provide specialized treatment modalities for the care of complicated and non-healing wounds. In addition to our standardized treatments, we are fortunate to have the ability to provide HBOT to our patients who need it,” said Dr. Tichansky.
Mount Nittany Health specialties like Orthotics, the Diabetes Foot Clinic, and Vascular Surgery work within the Center to provide comprehensive, customized care for patients with non-healing wounds.
For some patients like Dr. Kolos, healing takes time. The staff at Mount Nittany Health Wound Center are ready to provide quality, compassionate care to help patients achieve healing – however long it takes.
To schedule an appointment or learn more about Mount Nittany Health Wound Center, call 814.231.7868 or visit mountnittany.org/centerforwoundcare.
