BMC, Fairview Begin Work on Wound Care Centers

PITTSFIELD — In an effort to expand access and provide more convenience for patients in need of wound-care services, Berkshire Medical Center has announced it will redesign and relocate the Center for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine at BMC in Pittsfield, while Fairview Hospital will open a new center in Great Barrington to better-serve South Berkshire patients.

The center, currently located on the third floor of the BMC Medical Arts Complex, is being relocated to the site of the former Crane Center for Day Surgery, at the corner of Wahconah and Charles Streets in Pittsfield. At the same time, Fairview Hospital is renovating the former Condor Chevrolet building in Great Barrington, which will be the home of the Center for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine at Fairview. The renovation work is underway at both locations, and expected to be completed in October.

The new Pittsfield center will feature a much larger waiting area, making it more convenient for patients who use wheelchairs, and six treatment rooms, which will all be larger than the current five in the existing center, allowing for access by stretchers and Hoyer lifts in three of the rooms. The ground-floor space of the new center also will be more convenient for wound-care patients, who often have mobility challenges. Easier parking will be provided through a dedicated Wound Center parking lot, to be located directly across the street from the center on Charles Street.

The Fairview Center, which will have comprehensive wound-care services and two hyperbaric oxygen chambers, will provide better access for many South Berkshire patients, particularly those who have had difficulty in traveling to Pittsfield for care. The expansion in Pittsfield and the new Fairview Center will also help to alleviate wait times for patients in need of wound services. In all, with the two hyperbaric chambers in Pittsfield and two in Great Barrington, Berkshire Health Systems will be able to provide access to four chambers for patients who require hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

The Center for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine at BMC cares for more than 700 patients a year with nearly 7,400 patient encounters, and boasts a 96{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} heal rate. The center provides more than 1,600 hyperbaric oxygen treatments a year to nearly 150 patients.

Services are provided by physicians and nurses with advanced training in wound management and technicians specially trained in hyperbaric treatment, all led by Dr. Richard Basile, the only physician in Berkshire County who is board-certified in wound care. The staff provides care for a wide variety of conditions that lead to non-healing wounds, and offers individual treatment plans that include dressings, debridement, contact casting, compression therapy, non-invasive vascular assessment, and more. Wound-care physicians who provide services at the center include general, vascular, plastic, and orthopaedic surgeons, as well as infectious-disease and emergency-medicine specialists.

BMC’s center has been honored as a Center of the Year by Diversified Clinical Services, citing its heal rates, days to heal, medical leadership, and overall clinical accomplishments. For more information, call the center at (413) 496-6870.