HCA's Southern Hills prepares for opening of wound center
Roy Moore
August 19, 2005
Nashville Business Journal
Southern Hills Medical Center is developing an advanced wound care center in an effort to treat longer-lasting wounds before they become infected and risks for amputation.
The HCA Inc. hospital next month plans to open the outpatient center in 5,000 square feet of its medical office building. Once open, the center will included four treatment rooms and a procedure room, as well as a nursing station, offices and three hyperbaric chambers.
The center, targeting wounds that last at least four weeks, represents an interdisciplinary effort that includes endocrinologists as well as general, vascular and plastic surgeons.
The hospital has seen many of these patients through the physical therapy section on both the inpatient and outpatient operations. By shifting toward a single outpatient center, the hospital can have every specialist on campus potentially involved on the front end.
Southern Hills CEO Victor Giovanetti says the wound care center, which took a year to develop, is the natural evolution of the hospital's existing program.
We'll see them way in advance of those wounds getting infected and get them better so we don't see them on the inpatient side and don't see them chronically, he says.
As the advanced wound care center matures, other TriStar hospitals likely will start their own centers in the next year.
The initial start-up expense for the center is about $900,000, shared by the hospital and National Medical Solutions, a firm that's managing the new service. The funding went toward space renovations, equipment, physician and staff training and other start-up expenses.
National Medical Solutions, a wound care disease management company, will provide treatment protocols and expertise in getting the program off the ground.
Because it is wrapped around a disease-management focus, it's not just about wound care. It's just a very unique approach to treating these kinds of problems, Giovanetti says.
Southern Hills' focus on the wound care space is part of an overall expansion of that market nationwide. Business Communications Co. pegged the U.S. advanced wound care market in 2003 at $1.7 billion, a figure expected to growth 10.2 percent annually through 2008.
The devices used in such centers - hyperbaric oxygen therapies and vacuum-assisted therapies - are growing at an even faster clip of 15 percent each year, from $608 million two years ago.
This growth mirrors the rising obesity and diabetes incidence rates hitting the country. Diabetes then can lead to advanced wounds that might require amputation if not treated in time.
The wound care center coincides with Southern Hill's plan to expand its sleep disorder center, where physicians can test and treat those with sleeping disorder. Construction has started on a project to double the size of the center to four rooms. The two additional rooms will open by Oct. 1 and should enable the hospital to provide certain diagnostic and treatment protocols that unavailable in the past.
rmoore@bizjournals.com, 615-248-2222 ext. 117
Roy Moore
August 19, 2005
Nashville Business Journal
Southern Hills Medical Center is developing an advanced wound care center in an effort to treat longer-lasting wounds before they become infected and risks for amputation.
The HCA Inc. hospital next month plans to open the outpatient center in 5,000 square feet of its medical office building. Once open, the center will included four treatment rooms and a procedure room, as well as a nursing station, offices and three hyperbaric chambers.
The center, targeting wounds that last at least four weeks, represents an interdisciplinary effort that includes endocrinologists as well as general, vascular and plastic surgeons.
The hospital has seen many of these patients through the physical therapy section on both the inpatient and outpatient operations. By shifting toward a single outpatient center, the hospital can have every specialist on campus potentially involved on the front end.
Southern Hills CEO Victor Giovanetti says the wound care center, which took a year to develop, is the natural evolution of the hospital's existing program.
We'll see them way in advance of those wounds getting infected and get them better so we don't see them on the inpatient side and don't see them chronically, he says.
As the advanced wound care center matures, other TriStar hospitals likely will start their own centers in the next year.
The initial start-up expense for the center is about $900,000, shared by the hospital and National Medical Solutions, a firm that's managing the new service. The funding went toward space renovations, equipment, physician and staff training and other start-up expenses.
National Medical Solutions, a wound care disease management company, will provide treatment protocols and expertise in getting the program off the ground.
Because it is wrapped around a disease-management focus, it's not just about wound care. It's just a very unique approach to treating these kinds of problems, Giovanetti says.
Southern Hills' focus on the wound care space is part of an overall expansion of that market nationwide. Business Communications Co. pegged the U.S. advanced wound care market in 2003 at $1.7 billion, a figure expected to growth 10.2 percent annually through 2008.
The devices used in such centers - hyperbaric oxygen therapies and vacuum-assisted therapies - are growing at an even faster clip of 15 percent each year, from $608 million two years ago.
This growth mirrors the rising obesity and diabetes incidence rates hitting the country. Diabetes then can lead to advanced wounds that might require amputation if not treated in time.
The wound care center coincides with Southern Hill's plan to expand its sleep disorder center, where physicians can test and treat those with sleeping disorder. Construction has started on a project to double the size of the center to four rooms. The two additional rooms will open by Oct. 1 and should enable the hospital to provide certain diagnostic and treatment protocols that unavailable in the past.
rmoore@bizjournals.com, 615-248-2222 ext. 117