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South Florida Baptist Offers High-Tech Wound Care

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By DAVE NICHOLSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2008

PLANT CITY South Florida Baptist Hospital for the first time has a high-tech therapy for wounds that resist healing.

The hospital, 301 N. Alexander St., installed a hyperbaric chamber Sept. 2. The technology is the same that's used for divers who get into trouble on deep-sea dives and need oxygen to recover from the bends.

The Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine offers care for patients who have acute and chronic wounds that aren't healing.

Until now, patients have had to travel to Tampa or Lakeland for the hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which requires treatments five days a week and between 20 and 40 visits.

"Having a facility of this type in Plant City is a tremendous resource for the community," Martin Girling, a podiatrist and the co-medical director of the center, said in a statement.

The treatment is generally for patients who have a wound that is not showing signs of healing for three or four weeks, as well as those who have had a large open sore for years, the hospital said. Patients typically include those with complications from cancer, diabetes, burns, radiation and other conditions or ailments.

The oxygen-rich chamber aids the healing process.

"With new treatments that are available, we are able to heal more than 80 percent of chronic wounds," said Jill Roehr, a physician who is the center's co-director with Girling.

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