St. Luke’s to hold open house

For people with stubborn wounds that won’t heal or radiation treatment injuries, St. Luke’s University Health Network has had a team of specially trained physicians ready to offer care from Tamaqua to Quakertown.

Now, you can add Lehighton to the list.

The public is invited to tour St. Luke’s Wound Management & Hyperbaric Center, 525 Iron St., Lehighton, from 3-6 p.m. on Thursday.

In addition, guests may register for a free foot screening by a licensed podiatrist or a wound care physician.

Appointments are required.

In January, St. Luke’s University Health Network reopened the center after extensive renovations. The center was once operated by Blue Mountain Health System, which merged with St. Luke’s University Health Network in 2018.

The Lehighton facility is now one of six Wound Management & Hyperbaric Centers operated by St. Luke’s. Other locations are in Allentown, Bethlehem, Quakertown, Tamaqua and Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

The centers specialize in treating wounds caused by diabetes (especially foot wounds), trauma, disorders of the veins and arteries of lower extremities, pressure-related injuries and complex surgery.

At the Lehighton center, the top-down makeover didn’t stop at new walls, carpeting and office furniture. St. Luke’s also relocated two hyperbaric chambers after Dr. Steven Bower, network medical director of Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, saw how many patients from the area were venturing to its Allentown and Bethlehem centers for treatment.

Today, hyperbaric medicine is now commonly used to treat a growing number of illnesses, including wounds. One unit is up and running and the other is undergoing certification.

To register for the open house or to schedule a foot screening, call St. Luke’s InfoLink at 866-STLUKES (785-8537), option 4.

Steven Bowers, DO, network medical director of Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, said St. Luke’s decided to reopen the wound center and add hyperbaric chambers after seeing how many patients from the area were venturing to its Allentown and Bethlehem centers for treatment.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a noninvasive procedure that stimulates the repair of damaged blood vessels and tissue through exposure to pressurized, pure oxygen.

Bowers explained that the process helps drive oxygen more quickly into the liquid part of the blood bypassing red blood cells.

In turn, it helps grow new blood vessels that will flow blood into and rejuvenate damaged tissue. During treatment, patients lie in a long, clear acrylic chamber that is pressurized at up to 2.5 times the normal level and filled with 100 percent oxygen.

In comparison, room air consists of about 21 percent oxygen.

Patients undergoing this type of therapy typically receive 30 to 40 treatments, each of which last two hours. Usually, patients sleep or watch TV while the oxygen is administered, Bowers said.

Most patients undergoing the hyperbaric oxygen therapy have had radiation treatment for cancer and are now suffering from delayed radiation injury, a condition in which tissue surrounding the cancerous site becomes damaged from the treatment, he said.

About 5 percent of patients undergoing radiation experience a related injury. For them, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the only treatment available for relief from the condition that causes pain and bleeding.

Patients suffering from diabetic foot ulcers that won’t respond to traditional treatment may also benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy.