OGDENSBURG -- Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center’s Rev. Thomas T. Patterson Wound Healing Center recently joined in a chronic wounds awareness campaign.

Patterson Wound Healing Center Program Director Jamieka Rowe joined other program directors educating physicians, patients, and the community about the chronic wound epidemic and the advanced wound care solutions.

"It is estimated that chronic wounds affect 6.7 million people in the U.S. and the incidence is rising, fueled by an aging population and increasing rates of diseases and conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and the late effects of radiation therapy. It left untreated, chronic wounds can lead to diminished quality of life and possibly amputation of the affected limb," according to a news release from CHMC

“We see patients living with non-healing wounds for a prolonged amount of time due to the lack of awareness of advanced wound care options,” D. Scott Covington, chief medical director for Healogics, which runs the Patterson center, said in a prepared statement. “We work to educate community physicians about which of their patients can benefit from advanced wound care, and then provide coordinated care to heal that patient’s wounds.”