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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor

Ascension St. Vincent’s Chilton has added an outpatient wound care center to its specialty services.

Shanon Hamilton, administrator for Ascension St. Vincent’s, said the plan for such a facility arose because most of those with wounds that were not healing had to travel out of town for treatment.

“As a result of identifying that as a need, we wanted to be a solution,” Hamilton said.

The wound care center opened on Dec. 15.

“We had several patients on the very first day … and the schedule is filling up quickly,” Hamilton said.

The clinic is possible through a partnership with wound care provider Restorix Health.

“The important thing about Restorix is they bring a wealth of knowledge and a very strong reputation of providing industry standards that are best in class,” Hamilton said. “They have the experience and the expertise that we need in order to be able to care for the patients within our community.”

Dr. Jon Binkerd, who is the wound center medical director for the clinic, said it would serve patients who had a wound that had not healed for six weeks or longer.

In addition to treating non-healing wounds, the clinic will also be looking at root causes of the issue.

“The wound is a symptom, you have to find out what is going on that is not allowing it to heal,” Binkerd said.

Sometimes a wound that will not heal is caused by diabetes or poor blood flow.

Binkerd said the goal was to bring as many resources as possible together to best serve patients.

He commented that there are a lot of people in Chilton County that the clinic could help.

“We are hoping that by being here, we can provide good quality outcomes without them having to travel,” Binkerd said

As a part of the new clinic, St. Vincent’s Chilton has purchased a vascular testing machine for monitoring blood flow.

The wound center is open Monday and Wednesday and can be reached at 205-258-4550 for more information.

Hamilton said he anticipates the clinic being open more days of the week to meet the community’s needs.

Some patients may need to be referred by their primary care physician depending on their insurance.