Mission Hospital to open burn wound and hyperbaric treatment center
ASHEVILLE – Mission Hospital announced it will open its $7 million burn, wound and hyperbaric center in early August. The new outpatient unit will allow Western North Carolina burn patients to receive their treatment locally, rather than traveling hours to Winston-Salem or Augusta, Georgia.
The center, located in Mission’s former emergency department at 509 Biltmore Ave. Entrance 7, is equipped with 14 exam rooms with space to expand. It also has two hyperbaric chambers, which increase atmospheric pressure, allowing the body to intake more oxygen than breathing under normal air pressure, according to the Mayo Clinic. The chambers can treat a wide range of issues from diabetic foot ulcers to cyanide poisoning, according to Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell.
Dr. Michael Schurr, a burn surgeon by trade and the medical director of Mission burn services said that the center will admit people with smaller burns for the moment, but they may consider expanding for larger burns.
Schurr added that the burn center can help patients in the community who receive their initial treatment at an urgent care.
“They can come see me the next morning and then I can take over their care. We can do their therapies, we can do their dressings, see them on an ongoing basis and take care of them,” Schurr said.
He later added that the burn unit can treat patients who travel long distances for larger burns. Patients treated at “Wake (Forest), Chapel Hill, Augusta or Atlanta, they got treated there but they live here. They can come see me now once they’re discharged from the hospital.”
Amanda West, 43, is one of the patients who will benefit from the burn center. She received third-degree burns that covered nearly a quarter of her body in a work accident. The Waynesville resident travels three to four hours to Augusta to undergo surgeries or receive therapy for her burns she received in August 2021. She estimates that she has made the trip 60 times since sustaining the injury.
“They’re going to have therapists here for folks,” West said. “That’s a huge blessing for people. Scar contractions require lots of therapy. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists. I hear they’re going to have it all here. It’s going to be a one stop shop.”
According to information provided by Lindell, the hospital transferred out nearly 100 patients for burn treatment in 2022. Schurr thinks the unit will treat hundreds of patients, not thousands.
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Mission Hospital was bought by for-profit HCA in 2019 for $1.5 billion. Unlike its soon-to-open Sweeten Creek Mental Health and Wellness Center, HCA was not required to build the burn unit as part of its agreement to purchase Mission. Schurr said discussions about the center began prior to the sale.
HCA announced that their revenues for the second quarter of 2023 increased to nearly $15.9 billion, according to their most recent earnings report, disclosed in a July 27 news release. During the same period in 2022, the company brought in $14.8 billion in revenue.
Mitchell Black covers Buncombe County and healthcare for the Citizen Times. Email him at mblack@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchABlack. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Mission Hospital to open $7 million burn treatment center in Asheville
