By Dan Murphy
By Dan Murphy
Dr. Nirav Patel, Director of the Wound Care Center at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, kicked off the new year by discussing with Yonkers Rising the state-of-the-art services he helps provide to the community in wound care treatment and management. Dr. Patel said that many diabetic patients, or those with pre-existing conditions need to be watchful for wounds that are taking longer than usual to heal.
“The Wound Care Center at St. John’s is the premier wound care center available to patients in Westchester and the Bronx. We treat all types of wounds that are slow to heal, and check for vascular disease, podiatric conditions, and wounds that may not be healing properly from surgery. When you come to St. John’s, you get a complete circle of care,” said Dr. Patel.
“The Physicians at St. John’s are the best in Westchester, but what also makes our wound care center elite is the nursing care. I hear from my patients how satisfied they are with the care they receive from our nurses. For us to be successful, we treat everyone like they are part of our family – and that has resonated through to everyone.”
Patients with wounds from poor circulation as in peripheral vascular disease, chronic venous insufficiency, diabetes with neuropathy, pressure due to immobility, heart and lung disease are all prone to difficulties getting their wounds to heal and have benefitted from the treatment at the Wound Care Center at St. John’s Riverside Hospital.
Dr. Patel noted several advances in the field of wound care treatment and management that can be helpful to slow or non-healing wound patients. “When patients come to us with a wound that has not healed for a month or more, we check their circulation, address it, and treat it through vascular treatments to open circulation.
“We are most proud of our limb salvage rates. We heal wounds and preserve limbs. That is what we work to do every day here and we are highly successful in that goal. We are full of compassion, and we are unparalleled to any other wound program in the tri state area.”
Dr. Patel explained that diabetic patients are at most risk for having a wound that does not heal properly. Common diabetic wounds include foot ulcers, located on the bottom of the foot. “The majority of our patients are diabetic prevalent, and we can provide good treatment and state of the art technology to treat diabetic, non-healing wounds.”
“When a diabetic patient comes in for treatment, we check their blood sugars, and make sure that they are being monitored and controlled. Diabetes closes small vessels in your foot, and in those cases, we treat diabetic foot ulcers. We can also use vascular surgery to bring more circulation to the patients’ feet.
“We also have a lot of patients that are not diabetic but are experiencing trauma with non-healing surgical wounds. We work to determine why the wound is not healing, through ultrasound and tests to diagnose circulation. We have vascular surgeons and nurses who can correctly diagnose the reason for your slow healing wound and provide treatment on site,” said Dr. Patel.
The hyperbaric chamber at St. John’s Wound Care Center is state-of-the-art and unique to the region. “For patients that qualify for our hyperbaric therapy, we have 4 monoplace chambers, where each patient has their own chamber, and can watch TV during their treatment and experience more privacy,” said Dr. Patel. Most hyperbaric chambers in the area have one multi-place chamber, where patients are required to sit together.
Dr. Patel is also using new skin care products to help heal wounds. “We are using skin substitutes and skin products, if a wound is deficient in basic nutrients, these products can help conjure up cells to get impregnated into the wound and help speed up the healing.”
St. John’s Riverside Hospital has created a comprehensive outpatient wound management program dedicated to treating adult patients with non-healing wounds and wound prone conditions. “We can help to provide visiting nurses if you need help changing your dressing, and make sure your medicines are ordered. That is what is usually missing from other wound care locations where patients are told what to do and go home. But some patients can’t do it by themselves. We understand that and work to make sure they get the care at home that you would want for your own family member,” said Dr. Patel.
Advice for all of us regarding a recent wound? “If you are diabetic and have a wound that hasn’t been healing for 3 or 4 weeks, come in and get an x-ray. It could be an infection or not enough circulation. Make sure to have an expert look at it and tell you how to treat it to get your wound healed. That is what we are here for, to get you healed so you can go back to living your life,” said Dr. Patel, who is proud of the fact that St. John’s and the Wound Care Center, stayed open throughout COVID.
“In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, we stayed open and served the entire community, and were busier than ever. Many patients couldn’t get in to see their doctor and had telemedicine appointments. But for some patients that isn’t enough to help a wound. We were happy to serve those patients who came in to get their wounds cleaned and advise them, or where necessary, get them into our hospital for an operation. Our nurses and doctors stayed open, and did so safely, to provide a service that continues to be of great need. Many patients with wounds that weren’t treated during COVID ended up getting infections and losing their limbs. We wanted to make sure that we never closed our doors.
Nirav Patel DO is a board-certified vascular surgeon. Dr. Patel is the Chief of Surgery at St. John’s Riverside Hospital. He is the Division chief for Vascular surgery. He is Director for the Center of vascular disease and wound healing. Dr. Patel has 20 years of experience. He focuses on venous, arterial, abdominal and carotid disease. His practice treats a comprehensive types of wounds using state of the art techniques with incorporation or hyperbaric oxygen therapy where needed.
Visit https://riversidehealth.org/specialty-services/outpatient-services/wound-healing/, for more information.
