Ellsworth County Medical Center’s Wound Clinic may have just opened this past year, but a positive has already prompted administrators to expand its availability.

A wound care clinic specializes in treating wounds that do not heal. CEO Andrew Bair says ECMC saw a need for a local facility.

“There is a population of people out there that have various kinds of wounds that many of us just don’t think about,” Bair said. “Certainly people with diabetes really struggle with wounds that don’t heal as well. When they cut themselves, it takes longer and it’s more problematic for them. People with circulation issues end up with non-healing wounds.”

Other issues, such as infectious wounds or pressure ulcers require the specialized treatment from a wound care specialist.

That’s where Dr. Katie McWilliams comes in. McWilliams has got special training in wound care,” Bair said. “There are different methodologies through medication, through what we call ‘debridement.’”

Debridement is the removal of dead or infected skin cells in and around a wound, Bair said. Removing those tissues can help speed up the healing process by allowing the body to move past the first stage of healing.

“There are different dressing changes and different types of applications we can apply to the wounds themselves to expedite the healing of some of these very problematic wounds,” Bair said.

Patients who previously had to travel to either Hays or Salina for treatment of these wounds now have the option of having a doctor much closer to home. For patients who have difficulty traveling, the option of receiving treatment at ECMC can be life-changing. Bair said it’s important for ECMC to offer as many services as possible to the community.

“I think as a small hospital we are charged with trying to bring as much health care as we can to the community,” he said. “There are a lot of things that we can’t — there are all sorts of treatments that you need a certain population of people to be able to support — but we’re going to do what we can to bring what we can to this community.”

ECMC’s love-based care philosophy is a critical component of the wound clinic, Bair said, where some patients are dealing with issues that many people may not understand. Because of that, it’s important for the people who do care for them to treat them as they would treat their own family.

At ECMC, care is more than just a course of action.

“We want to be here for our community and we want to be the ones to help them with these issues,” he said. “We genuinely care when we talk about patient care. We love these people. They’re our community members and we want to provide this for them.”