Loma Linda University Medical Center—Murrieta’s Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Center is a three-time recipient for accreditation from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). The re-accreditation demonstrates the facility’s commitment to exceeding the highest standards of care and patient safety within the medical specialty.
"This achievement reaffirms our care team's concerted effort and strong dedication towards helping patients heal through delivery of safe and excellent hyperbaric medical care,” says Yoshinobu Mifune, MD, ABPM/UHM, FAAFP, FACCWS, senior medical director of the Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Center.
Utilizing advanced therapies and techniques, the Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Center staff have treated 84 patients with more than 2,500 hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) treatments in the year 2021. The most common conditions treated at the center include:
Chronic diabetic wounds of lower extremity
Gangrene (tissue death resulting from lack of blood flow to the area) that have not responded to conventional therapy
Osteomyelitis, or chronic bone infection
Radiation cystitis (bladder inflammation after the use of radiation in the treatment of multiple cancer types, including, most commonly, pelvic cancers)
Soft tissue radionecrosis (tissue damage incurred as an after effect of radiation therapy)
Osteoradionecrosis of the jaw (bone death in the lower jaw through interrupted blood supply after radiation)
One such patient, 62-year-old Ann Peterson, has undergone 60 rounds of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy, a process that involves breathing 100% oxygen while inside a pressurized treatment chamber, for about two hours per day. Patients receive HBO2 treatment usually once a day for anywhere from 30– to 60 treatments, depending on the specific condition.
“Dr. Mifune and the staff were great,” Peterson says. “They always had smiles on their faces and were very kind. I never felt uncomfortable being inside the hyperbaric chamber for a moment.”
UHMS is the gold standard in hyperbaric facility accreditation, said Mifune. LLUMC— – Murrieta, with a patient satisfaction rate of over 98%, is one of just two accredited academic hyperbaric oxygen centers in the state.
This article was originally published on the Loma Linda University Health news site
