Mercy Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine
1905 W. 32nd Street, Suite 103
417.556.6967
www.mercy.net/practice/mercy-wound-care-and-hyperbaric-joplin
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Supports Wound Vitality and Healing
We’ve all had little cuts and scrapes we can take care of at home, but what should we do when a Band-aid just won’t do the job?
Mercy Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine is dedicated to treating wounds with compassionate, expert care and restoring quality of life to patients.
Dr. Tobi Yerokun is the medical director of the Mercy Wound Center. He and his team work together to evaluate patient needs and create individualized treatment plans for their wounds. The Wound Center specializes in non-invasive vascular studies, treatment of venous and arterial ulcers, debridements, negative pressure wound therapy, compression therapy, treatment of wound infections and more.
“Our goal is to manage care for patients who have wounds, and when we say a wound we mean any disruption of the normal orientation of the skin,” Dr. Yerokun said. “We try to help our patients get to a point where they’re comfortable and not having to worry about the wound as something that obstructs or causes a decline in their quality of life.”
The Mercy Wound Center has two state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers. The chambers supply patients with 100 percent oxygen during a session, which typically lasts an hour and a half. In normal air, only 21 percent of it is oxygen. The rest is nitrogen, helium and other gasses. Inside the chamber, the amount of oxygen is 100 percent, so the blood increases dramatically, which supports wound healing.
“Increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood increases the vitality of the cells, which supports and speeds up healing,” Dr. Yerokun said.
The Mercy Wound Center has the unique advantage that it can serve as an entry point to comprehensive healthcare through the Mercy health system.
“We try to make sure that this is a center of health care completion,” Dr. Yerokun said. “We want to make sure that we connect everyone to the best possible care for their entire bodies. Patients often come here first for wound treatment, then I learn they need care for other health issues they are experiencing. The Mercy network allows us to pretty easily and seamlessly connect people to the right providers they need.”