It is estimated almost six million Americans suffer from chronic, no-healing wounds.  Wound healing is interrupted by chronic illnesses (e.g., diabetes, arterial or venous disorders, etc.) and are most common in the aging population.  Chronic, non-healing wounds require comprehensive care and resources often not available in a typical practitioner’s office. 

 Berkshire Surgical Associates, led by Dr. Parvis Sadighi (now retired) and Dr. Richard Basile, collaborated with Berkshire Medical Center and Diversified Clinical Services to establish the first comprehensive wound and hyperbaric center in Berkshire County.  The Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine opened in January, 2005 under Dr. Richard Basile’s Medical Directorship.

Since opening, the Center has treated thousands of patients and participated in healing many chronic, non-healing wounds. There are over 200 active patients and over 30 patients treated per day.   In addition to conventional wound care practices, the Center utilizes many advanced modalities, including, bio-engineered skin grafting, negative pressure wound therapy and hyperbaric oxygen.  Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO) is best defined as placing a patient in a chamber under pressure of more than 2 atmospheres while they breath 100% oxygen, for at least 90 minutes.  In many cases, HBO has been effective in healing wounds otherwise unresponsive to conventional wound care or accelerated healing in highly infectious wounds. 

 The Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine maintains a heal rate consistently above the national benchmark heal rate of over 85-90% of wounds healed within 14 weeks.  Patients are referred to the Center by a practitioner, typically their primary care physician, who is kept involved and consulted through all aspects of the patient’s care.