Sonora, CA…In March 2021, Carol Miller realized something was wrong. A bout of pneumonia had landed her in a valley hospital where an ill-placed I.V. created a large wound on her arm. Weeks went by after she was discharged from the hospital. The wound would seem to be getting better, and then it would get worse. She tried treating it with antibiotic cream and other home remedies but as the infection grew worse it became clear she needed medical help.

Miller visited Indian Rock Rapid Care and they referred her to the Center for Wound Care at Adventist Health Sonora. “Dr. Brunel was fantastic,” Miller says about the care she received from her wound care team. “They are a great group of people. They care about their patients and I think it’s awesome they won all these awards.”

During National Wound Care Awareness Month, staff from Adventist Health Sonora are celebrating the Wound Care team’s achievements, as they were presented with three national awards from Healogics, the largest provider of advanced wound care services in the U.S.

The Center for Wound Care is ranked in the top 5% and is one of just 16 wound centers in the nation to be presented with the prestigious President’s Circle award. The Wound Care team in Sonora has also earned The Robert A. Warriner III, M.D., Clinical Excellence Award for scoring in the top 10 percent of eligible wound centers in the nation and the Center of Distinction award for achieving outstanding clinical outcomes for 12 consecutive months, including patient satisfaction higher than 92 percent and a wound healing rate of at least 92 percent within 28 median days to heal.

“These awards represent a phenomenal achievement and demonstrate that our wound care team was able to provide outstanding care throughout the pandemic,” explains Michelle Fuentes, Adventist Health Sonora President. “This award-winning care isn’t new. The Center has been recognized for excellent healing outcomes, high patient satisfaction rates and outstanding clinical performance every year since 2011.”

After nearly two months of weekly visits to Wound Care for debridement (deep cleaning of the wound), special treatments using skin substitutes, and other advanced therapies, Miller’s infection subsided, and her wound eventually closed and healed.

Miller is now back to everything she enjoys: spending time with her grandson and caring for her new dog – even building a fence for her young companion – something she could not have done with the painful wound on her arm.

The Center for Wound Care has provided care for hundreds of patients with non-healing wounds. The specially trained and experienced team offers the most advanced treatments available, including negative pressure wound therapy, total contact casting, bio-engineered tissues, biosynthetic dressings and growth factor therapies. The Center also offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which works by surrounding the patient with 100 percent oxygen to help progress the healing of the wound.

“Anyone with an injury that isn’t healing well should give Wound Care a call,” Miller advises. “I would recommend them to anybody.”

Adventist Health Sonora’s Center for Wound Care is a member of the Healogics network of over 600 Wound Care Centers® and offers highly specialized wound care to patients suffering from diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, infections and other chronic wounds which have not healed in a reasonable amount of time. No referral is required, and all insurances are accepted. More information and same-day or next-day appointments are available by calling 209-536-5196.
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About Healogics
Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., Healogics is the nation’s wound healing expert. Last year over 300,000 patients received advanced wound care through a network of over 600 Wound Care Centers. Healogics also partners with over 300 skilled nursing facilities to care for patients with chronic wounds and provides inpatient consults at more than 60 partner hospitals. As the industry leader, Healogics has the largest repository of chronic wound-specific patient data in the country. The Healogics Wound Science Initiative offers peer-reviewed research and advanced analytics in the pursuit of not only better outcomes, but a better way to provide care.

About Adventist Health
Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system serving more than 80 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii as well as others across the U.S. through its Blue Zones company, a pioneer in taking a systemic and environmental approach to improving the health of entire cities and communities. Through this work, Adventist Health is leading a 21st century well-being transformation movement. Founded on Seventh-day Adventist heritage and values, Adventist Health provides care in hospitals, clinics, its innovative Adventist Health Hospital@Home program that provides virtual in-patient care at home, home care agencies, hospice agencies and joint-venture retirement centers in both rural and urban communities. Our compassionate and talented team of 37,000 includes associates, medical staff physicians, allied health professionals and volunteers driven in pursuit of one mission: living God’s love by inspiring health, wholeness and hope. Together, we are transforming the American healthcare experience with an innovative, yet timeless, whole-person focus on physical, mental, spiritual and social healing to support community well-being.

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