The Wound Care Center and Hyperbaric Unit at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville offers a comprehensive program for the treatment of hard to heal wounds. It is a multidisciplinary approach for the management of both acute and chronic wounds. Located on the first floor of the hospital as you enter the Outpatient entrance located adjacent to the main lobby, the Center is conveniently located with easy access.

Our Wound Care Center team consists of nurses, technicians and physicians, working to coordinate your wound treatment plan with your primary and specialty care physicians to ensure an appropriate, individualized plan to best meet your needs.

Why are some wounds so difficult to heal?

When natural wound healing processes are compromised, a wound that may have ordinarily healed quickly becomes a problem. This may be due to a systemic factor, such as a chronic disease, poor circulation or vascular disease, age, body build, nutritional status, a compromised immune system or other factors. Diabetes, and the circulatory problems associated with it, is often a major contributing factor in hard to heal wounds. A local factor could also be the problem. Prolonged pressure on the wound, a re-injured wound, infection, or other causes may be responsible.

How can we meet the challenge of problem wounds?

Comprehensive services offered by the Center provide a full range of services for the effective treatment of wounds, and include the following:

• Wound Assessment
• Treatment Plans
• Trained Staff
• Education
• Discharge Planning
• Support Services

Therapies Available

The Center has at its disposal a wide range of therapies designed to promote healing, including:

• Debridement
• Bio-engineered Tissue Grafting
• Support Service Recommendations
• Infection Management
• Compression Therapy
• Off-loading
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is a medical treatment that has been shown to help speed the healing of even the most challenging wounds or injuries. The enhanced pressure increases the amount of oxygen delivered to affected tissues to help fight infection, decrease swelling and promote the formation of new tissue and blood vessels.

HBO is administered under the supervision of physicians, nurses and technicians who are certified by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). HBO staff members are nurses and technicians trained and certified in Hyperbaric Medicine.

During HBO, the patient is placed in a prone position inside a specially designed hyperbaric chamber. The air pressure around the patient is increased slowly, much like the pressure is raised inside the cabin of an airplane. The higher pressure causes more oxygen to be absorbed by the body. The higher oxygen level permits the body’s natural defense system to function more efficiently in assisting the healing process.

Important Information

If you have a wound that has not improved significantly in one month or healed completely in two months, additional therapies may be needed, and the Wound Care Center may be able to help.

The Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. To dial the Center directly, please call (956)698-5546.