National Reaccreditation Earned Again by Albany Wound Clinic March 30, 2023 Samaritan Wound, Vein & Hyperbaric Medicine has further validated its patient care and facility safety, receiving full reaccreditation for the third time as a Comprehensive Center by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. To earn the elite designation, an organization must meet criteria for staffing, training and facility infrastructure and protocols for care. The accreditation is the gold standard in hyperbaric facility accreditation, with 267 facilities in nearly 20 years to be surveyed and accredited. The Albany-based wound clinic is currently one of only four in Oregon to receive this accreditation. Since opening its doors in 2014, Samaritan Wound, Vein & Hyperbaric Medicine has offered a close-to-home wound care option for patients seeking oxygen therapy treatment for chronic, non-healing wounds. The therapy involves the use of pure oxygen in a pressurized clear acrylic chamber to promote wound healing. The technology has been used for decades, starting with the military to help scuba divers recover from resurfacing too quickly and pilots who were flying at too high of an altitude. At the accredited center, each patient is carefully screened by a trained medical professional who also conducts the therapy and is always onsite during the treatment. “We use oxygen as a treatment method to help heal complicated wounds that cannot get better on their own. This approach is often coupled with other wound treatments offered at the wound center,” said Medical Director Priscilla Latta, MD. “It takes a whole team to close the wound and save the limb.” Located in the Samaritan Medical and Diagnostics Center in Albany, the clinic performs careful evaluation and review of each patient to determine their candidacy for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. For more information about wound care, vein services or vascular imaging at Samaritan Wound, Vein & Hyperbaric Medicine – Albany or their satellite clinics in Lebanon, Lincoln City and Newport, visit samhealth.org/HBOT. Learn how oxygen therapy helped heal Kent Emry’s wounds, getting him back to his adventurous lifestyle.
